


Around the World

by Chipster_roo



Category: Watership Down - Richard Adams
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-13 00:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 46,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5688355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chipster_roo/pseuds/Chipster_roo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A farm raid gone wrong sends Fiver and Vilthuril on a lengthy journey, with Hazel and the gang searching for them. Meanwhile, those who were left behind have to deal with establishing a new warren. Based on book with series characters appearing later on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mysterious Hrududu

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Nanowrimo 2015. It is based on the book, but with a few characters from the series appearing later on.
> 
> Copyright: Most rabbit characters belong to Richard Adams. The others belong to Decode/Nepenthe/YTV/Alltime/whoever owns the Watership Down series. The human characters belong to me. Do anything you want with this fic except claim it as yours.
> 
> Cover credits:  
> Bigwig by “Wild Wind”.  
> Blackberry taken from the WD film.  
> Buttercup and Fiver taken from the WD series.  
> Hazel by “Shaydeelady”.  
> Hyzenthlay by “LadyMaryJane”.  
> Pipkin by “Xbox-DS-Gameboy”.  
> Spartina by “shuvuuia”.  
> I forgot where I got Vilthuril.  
> Heart by “clker”.  
> Map by “Karamidov”.  
> The whole thing put together by Chipster-roo using Pinta.

[...]this is a box thing humans travel inside to go places, a human carrying travelling thing, and it is noisy, and I do not like it at all!

\--Fred L. Tate, _The Warren_

It was an ordinary day on Watership Down. It was late summer and most of the rabbits were either sleeping in the burrows below ground or having an enjoyable silflay.

Nearby, at Nuthanger Farm, there was a large hrududu full of crates of fresh vegetables. Inside the hrududu were two rabbits, enjoying the rich taste of the flayrah.

-It's been a while since the last successful raid. It's nice to finally have flayrah again, don't you think, Fiver? asked one of the rabbits, taking a break from her leaf of kale.

The other rabbit, however, seemed tense. He was staring wide-eyed at the inside of the hrududu, and finally spoke:

-This place isn't safe, Vilthuril, my dear. If we stay here, something will happen.

-But Fiver, what could possibly go wrong? Plenty of flayrah, no smell of cats, no sounds of men. Everything seems fine!

-Sometimes, things happen suddenly. Everything is all right one moment, and the next it is total chaos.

-Fiver, is this one of your visions again?

Fiver hesitated for a few seconds. He continued to look around him.

-I don't know. I feel...something, but it isn't very clear.

-Then it's probably nothing. Come on, Fiver my dear, cheer up.

Fiver then realized that there was no way he could get his mate to leave the hrududu before it was too late. He would have to leave her, which was entirely out of the question. He was still thinking about a way to convince her to get off, when the ground under them began to move, knocking them both off their balance. Vilthuril got up and said, almost tharn:

-Frith and Inlé, what is happening?

Fiver replied with a slight hint of panic:

-It seems that the man woke up the hrududu.

-We must get out!

She went to the back of the hrududu and put her front paws on the tailgate. She could see the road moving in front of her. She had never seen a road before, apart from the iron road near Efrafa, making this experience terrifying.

-Calm down, calm down, reassured Fiver as he went beside her. Hrududil probably aren't alive, so we are in no immediate danger. As long as the human doesn't know we are here, we should be safe.

-This hrududu is travelling so fast, observed Vilthuril. Unless we get off now, we will end up far from the Down. But I don't think jumping off is a good idea.

-You're right about that: jumping off a moving hrududu is never a good idea. Let's just hope it doesn't take us too far away. But never mind that, we will see where it takes us when we get there. Until then, let's get back to our flayrah.

* * *

Meanwhile on Watership Down, Hazel was searching the burrows for his brother. He had not seen him since the previous evening and was getting seriously worried: it was not like Fiver to suddenly vanish without a trace. He finally found Pipkin, alone in his burrow, awake.

-Pipkin, have you seen Fiver? asked Hazel.

-Yes, I saw him this morning, answered Pipkin. He told me to tell you that he was going to the farm for some time alone. He left just before sunrise.

-He went to the farm ALONE?

-No, not alone, Vilthuril went with him.

-Nobody else?

-No one.

Hazel was shocked. Fiver and Vilthuril were some of the most sensible rabbits in the warren, and recklessly going on a raid without bringing anyone from the owsla was unlike them. The only thing that he could rejoice in was that the two rabbits had unusual powers, which should keep them out of trouble.

But at sunset, they still weren't back. Hazel was seriously worried. What if, for some reason, neither rabbit felt the danger before it was too late? What if they were attacked by a cat and killed? He called a general meeting in the Honeycomb.

As the great burrow became filled with rabbits, Hazel took his spot in the middle of the great burrow and began:

-Friends, this is a crisis. Fiver and Vilthuril went to the farm this morning and they are not back yet. The farm can be a dangerous place, especially for them since they never took part in any serious raids. We must organize a rescue mission as soon as possible.

-I volunteer take part in the rescue mission, shouted a random rabbit somewhere in the Honeycomb.

-I volunteer too.

-So do I.

Pretty soon the Honeycomb was filled with the sounds of many rabbits, all of whom wanted to take part in the mission. Once things had quieted down, Hazel made his choices. The first one was Bigwig, as there was a high chance they might have to fight some cats over at the farm. He then chose Blackberry, in case the rescue would involve using some clever trick only he could think of. The third rabbit he picked was Hyzenthlay. While, in most situations, he left her in charge of the warren while he went on the dangerous missions, she also sometimes felt things, somewhat like Fiver, and such information might be useful. Finally, he also selected Pipkin, whom he could always depend on, no matter the situation they were in.

As the group of five left the Honeycomb, Hazel told those who were left behind:

-Don't worry if we're not back soon. We may even be gone a few days, but hopefully it won't come to that.

As they went outside, they saw that it was a quiet and peaceful evening. Hazel regretted not having gone to the farm earlier. They would have to travel in the darkness. While Inlé was shining brightly without any clouds obstructing its light, it was still much easier to travel by day.


	2. The Ship

So when you're cold [...]

Remember love and friendship,

And warmth will come to you.

\--Stephen Cosgrove, _The G_ _nome from Nome_

 

The farmer's hrududu was still travelling on the road, with Fiver and Vilthuril still on board. They had already eaten a certain amount of flayrah, so they slept for most of the trip. About two hours after the departure from the farm, the hrududu suddenly stopped. The air was full of numerous smells, most of which the rabbits had never smelled before. There were also many sounds, all made by humans. Evidently the hrududu had stopped in a dense human settlement, thought they did not know that they were near the Port of London.

The rabbits were still getting over the shock of this new, dangerous place, when they heard the farmer approach. Before he could spot them, they jumped into a large crate full of lettuce. As it was nearly full, they could hardly move without attracting attention.

-What did we get ourselves into? wondered Vilthuril.

-Don't worry, we will be able to get out of here soon, replied Fiver.

The farmer walked around the back of the hrududu, absent-mindedly examining his load. Since the spring, he sold part of his vegetables to a major food company, which shipped them overseas for processing. The vegetables looked delicious and he would probably get a good price for them. There were a few leaves of kale and lettuce on the floor, half-eaten by the rabbits, but he believed they had simply fallen out of their crates during the trip. He made a mental note to drive more carefully next time.

A forklift then went in reverse towards the farmer's hrududu and picked up the first crate. Soon afterwards, another forklift picked up the the one where Fiver and Vilthuril were hiding. It was a rather unpleasant experience for them, as they found themselves being shaken and moved around without being able to do anything about it.

After a while, the shaking stopped. The place the rabbits were in felt unusually cold and was full of new smells. They jumped out of the crate and inspected the area. It contained lots of vegetables, but also several other substances with which they were not familiar. While Vilthuril wandered through the hold, Fiver remained motionless near the lettuce crate. After a while, he finally spoke:

-This place is mostly safe, but it's cold. So cold.

-You're right about that, said Vilthuril. What I don't understand is where all this cold comes from. There isn't any snow, so it can't be winter.

-This place is definitely the doing of humans. Who knows why or how they build places like this? Either way, we must stop this cold.

The refrigerated hold of the ship felt even colder to rabbits than to humans. While the employees who visited it wore warm clothes when they did so, the rabbits did not have this luxury.

-I hope we will find a way to stop the cold, but until then, I guess we shall have to stay active, concluded Vilthuril, and sleep closely together to stay warm. At least food won't be a problem, with all this flayrah.

With that, they went to explore the rest of the hold. It was very large and there were plenty of small hiding spots and tunnels inside and between crates. It was a nice place, apart from the cold.


	3. The Trip to the City

Through the beautiful valley

And its lovely countryside

As he sits up by the window

And the views go gliding by

\--Bryan Daly, _Jess the Cat_

 

The rescue party from Watership Down had been travelling for most of the night. It took them much longer than they had expected, and they only reached the farm the next morning.

Nuthanger farm was quiet at this time of day. There were no cats, apart from a fat white one sleeping near a window. The dog was still asleep. The humans, if there were any, were not working outside. Leaving Pipkin to act as a sentry, Hazel smelled around.

-Fiver and Vilthuril were here, all right. This is their scent. Let's follow it.

The group slowly progressed through the farmyard, until the scent suddenly stopped in the middle of a dirt path. There was no blood, no signs of a struggle, nothing unusual. There was just the scent of humans, which was everywhere, and that of fresh flayrah, which was unusual considering the trail was nowhere near the garden.

-But they can't just vanish into thin air! insisted Hazel. What could have happened?

Blackberry looked at and smelled the ground, before finally guessing:

-They have probably been taken away by a hrududu.

-A hrududu? But that's impossible! claimed Bigwig. Hrududil take no notice of you if you leave them alone.

-But what if, explained Blackberry, they were already on the hrududu before it started to move? Some of them carry flayrah, maybe that's what they were after. Besides, you can see a few tracks left by the hrududu.

Most of the rabbits were skeptical towards Blackberry's idea, but nobody could offer a better explanation. After a quick silflay, they continued on the dirt trail that the hrududu took, until they came upon a road.

-All right. Which way do we go now? asked Bigwig. And supposing they did get on a hrududu, can we seriously expect to catch up with it?

Just as he said that, another hrududu, which was travelling on the road, stopped right in front of the rabbits and opened its doors. It was a self-driving double-decker bus. It had been built a few weeks before and set loose onto the roads of the UK in order to convince the public that self-driving vehicles were the way of the future. So far, people had expressed little interest in such vehicles, especially since the bus had a tendency to deviate the path it had been programmed to follow.

-Um, Bigwig? said a perplexed Pipkin. I thought you said hrududil ignore us.

Bigwig was amazed at what had happened. The hrududu was almost looking like it was inviting them to go inside. The first of the rabbits to move was Hyzenthlay. She hopped onto the steps and smelled them, then finally jumped inside the hrududu.

-It's all right, there is no danger.

The other rabbits remained motionless.

-It's safe, I can feel it.

Pipkin was the second rabbit to go on board, his curiosity being stronger than his fear of the hrududu. Blackberry came next.

-You two really should get on before it leaves, you know? he suggested. You can't expect it to just stay here forever, waiting for you.

Bigwig and Hazel stared at each other for a few seconds.

-What fools we look like! whispered Bigwig to prevent the others from hearing them. As Chief Rabbit and captain of owsla, it is our task to go first to see if everything is safe, and now we are the last ones to go inside the hrududu.

With that, they jumped inside.

Once inside the hrududu, Hazel began to explore it. He was amazed that such a large open space was possible, especially since there weren't any tree roots or anything to hold the ceiling up. At the front, there was a large flat surface with several lights on it and he went to sniff it. As he did, a beep was heard, a green light flashed, the doors closed and the hrududu began to move.

-Frith and Inlé, we're trapped inside! said a panicked Pipkin.

-Don't worry, Hlao-roo, reassured Hazel, everything is going to be all right. If we got in, there must be a way to get out.

He was not very convinced of what he said. He, like Bigwig, had just blindly trusted Blackberry when he had suggested that they ride a hrududu, and Hyzenthlay when she said it was safe. But then, what did they know about hrududil?

-Hey everyone, come up here! came the faint voice of Blackberry. You can see!

The others startled. The voice sounded like it came from above.

-Blackberry! Where are you? asked Hazel.

Blackberry came down the stairs at the back of the bus.

-I'm up here. Come and look!

The other rabbits followed him up the stairs. It was a difficult climb, and Pipkin nearly fell at one point, but eventually everyone reached the second deck. Outside the windows they could see the trees moving around them. It was an unusual sight, very different from what the rabbits could see at ground level: it looked as if they were travelling through the multicoloured leaves. Suddenly, Bigwig collapsed.

-Bigwig! What's wrong? asked Hazel worriedly.

-I can't...stand...this...! I'm...dizzy...ARGGH!

-It seems that Bigwig has trouble adjusting to movement, determined Pipkin.

-How do you know that? questioned Blackberry.

-Kehaar once told me about a time when he rode on top of a hrududu. He felt terrible, just like Bigwig right now. We have to bring him down.

Going up the stairs was very hard for the rabbits. Going down was even harder, as the steps were narrow and one false move would cause them to fall to the bottom, especially with Bigwig. Hazel and Pipkin were forced to push him from one step to the next, with Blackberry and Hyzenthlay stabilizing him each time. After at least one hour of hard work, everyone was back on the first deck.

-So now we are trapped inside a hrududu, Bigwig's sick, and still no sign of Fiver, said Hazel while cleaning Bigwig. We never should have gotten inside.

-I'm already feeling much better now, Hazel-rah,  assured Bigwig .  I should be all right soon.  Thanks for getting me out of that  embleer place up there.

H e then struggled to his feet,  but Blackberry stopped him.

- No, don't strain yourself, just remain calm.  Otherwise you  may get sick again.

-Don't worry, Hazel, we will find Fiver, promised Hyzenthlay. This hrududu will probably bring us closer to where he is.

-But where IS he? wondered Hazel. And how do you know we're going the right way?

-We will find out soon enough. If we're going the wrong way, we can always ride another hrududu back here.

* * *

Over the course of the trip, the hrududu stopped hrair times, as it had been automatically programmed to do so to let passengers on. However, its stops were always in the middle of nowhere, so no humans got on. Each time, the rabbits sniffed the air, but Fiver and Vilthuril were nowhere to be smelled, so they stayed inside.

After a while, however, it stopped in the middle of the city, at the worst possible place: in the middle of a crossroad. Traffic screeched to a halt in all directions, then a traffic cop who was nearby approached the bus and shouted:

-Hey! Get your bus away from here!

However, upon looking inside, his attitude completely changed. Inside the bus, there were no passengers, no driver, not even a steering wheel, only four tharn rabbits hiding under a seat (Blackberry had gone back to the second deck). He shook his head in disbelief, then slowly walked away from the bus thinking he was hallucinating and badly needed a vacation. As he was back on the sidewalk, the bus' doors closed and it resumed its trip.

A few minutes later, the bus reached another programmed stop, at the Port. Suddenly, Hyzenthlay ordered:

-Everyone get out!

The other rabbits were very surprised at this. She was the first one to go inside the hrududu, and now she wanted them to go outside.

-Why now? asked Bigwig. This place is full of humans.

-It seems, observed Blackberry, coming down the stairs from the second deck, that there are many hrududil around here. The odds are that the one that carried Fiver and Vilthuril stopped somewhere around here, so we might as well look for them.

Hyzenthlay breathed a sigh of relief. She did not know herself why they needed to get off the hrududu, it was one of her feelings that she was unable to explain. Blackberry had provided a convincing argument that would force everyone off.

Just as the last rabbit, who turned out to be Pipkin, jumped out of the hrududu, its doors closed and it rolled straight into the Thames river, causing water to splash everywhere. All five rabbits, who were now wet through, stared at the sinking hrududu. They all knew that, had they still been inside, they would have drowned.

The incident attracted the attention of all nearby humans. Several Port employees went to investigate and rescue any victims if necessary, while most passersby simply took out their smartphones to film the scene, hoping it would go viral on the Internet. The rabbits soon found themselves in the middle of the crowd, struggling to avoid being stepped on.

It took several minutes for all the rabbits to escape the ever-growing crowd. Once they were all together again, they shook themselves in an effort to dry their fur. While this removed most of the water, it would take a while for them to become entirely dry again.

-So what do we do now? asked Bigwig. We can't stay here, we are bound to be noticed sooner or later by these humans.

-I think we should get away from these humans as fast as possible, explained Blackberry. With so many of them, it's only a question of time before they find us, and they won't like to see us here.

-But there are humans everywhere! pointed out Pipkin.

-Then let's go where there are the least humans, decided Hazel.

Soon afterwards, they came upon a ramp leading to a cruise ship. The employees in charge of checking the passengers' tickets had left their posts to look at the bus. As such, the ramp was entirely deserted. The rabbits climbed it and walked around the deck for a while. There were a certain number of humans around, but nearly all of them were looking at the spot where the bus had sunk. Finally, the rabbits saw an open door without any humans near it, so they approached it. They gasped as they saw what was on the other side.


	4. The Inspection

[It] is a relatively stress-free method of travel. [...] You only have to come to terms with hiding from people whose job it is to find you and arrest you, but would prefer to beat the [hraka] out of you and leave you stranded 100 km from anywhere.

\--Ard Arvin, [Freight Across Canada](http://buildering.net/freight)

 

Changing the temperature of the refrigerated compartment was rather easy for the rabbits. Vilthuril accidentally turned a dial on the wall while jumping on top of a crate full of apples, raising the temperature of the compartment to a more acceptable level in the process.

A few days later, while they were half-asleep, a bright light shone from the back of the room. The compartment was kept dark to save electricity, so whenever someone entered it, the light from the room beyond flooded inside.

This was the first time since the rabbits' arrival that the compartment had been opened. They were both awake in a fraction of a second and bolted towards a small hiding spot they had discovered between a few crates. The humans, meanwhile, slowly walked around the compartment. Each had a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. They were searching for stowaways.

-We must get these humans out of here, they will kill us if they find us, warned Vilthuril.

-You're right about that. Don't worry, I have a plan. Follow me, said Fiver.

They both sneaked out of their hiding spot and went to the other end of the room, where cardboard milk cartons were stored. As quietly as possible, they began to chew them. After a few cartons had been destroyed, the entire tower was extremely unbalanced and collapsed in a frightful noise.

All the humans pointed their flashlights towards the scene of the accident. They slowly approached it, their guns in their hands, ready to shoot any intruder they may find. One of them slowly brushed away a few cartons to see if anything was underneath, but only found more cartons.

Suddenly, they heard yet another noise, from the opposite end of the room. The rabbits had just knocked down a shelf full of raw meat. The entire crew ran there, until one of them decided that they split up. Each worker was to inspect one batch of crates and blink their flashlight if they found anything. This way, there would be no place where the stowaways could hide. Seeing this, the rabbits went tharn.

-Don't worry, Fiver, you did your best, it almost worked.

-We must not despair, Vilthuril.

Despite what he had said, Fiver still had little hope that they would be all right.

A few minutes later, one worker pointed his flashlight straight at both rabbits. He stared at them, slightly amused. He was a disgruntled employee, unhappy about his low-paying job searching for stowaways. Besides, he only got a bonus if he found a human, his contract said nothing about rabbits.

-Have a nice trip, he whispered.

He then proceeded to another batch of containers.

-What just happened? questioned Vilthuril. This human saw us, there's no doubt about that. But he left us alone! Why?

-Humans are one of those things nobody must try to understand, replied Fiver. Either way, they will leave and they won't come back. We should be safe until we reach the other side of the Big Water.

-You mean...there's something beyond it?

-I don't know. We'll find out when we get there.

A few minutes later, the employees had finished patrolling the compartment. While all these collapses were suspicious, there were clearly no stowaways in the compartment. They therefore left the compartment to inspect another one. As Fiver had predicted, they did not go back inside for the rest of the trip.


	5. Raiding the Kitchen

I happen to have discovered a direct relation between magnetism and light, also electricity and light, and the field it opens is so large and I think rich.

\--Michael Faraday

 

The rabbits were staring at the inside of the room. It was the most colourful thing they had ever seen. The carpet, the walls, the bed, the furniture, everything was of a different colour. But the most colourful thing had to be the cover on the bed. Bigwig nearly collapsed again after seeing it, especially since he had not fully recovered from the bus trip. Blackberry was struggling to figure out how such an ugly thing could possibly exist. He voiced his concern to Hyzenthlay, who suggested that humans don't see very well. Hazel smelled it and decided that it was safe as long as nobody stared at it for too long. Pipkin clawed at it a few times, then tried to climb onto the bed, but due to his reduced size, was unable to reach the top and fell back on the floor.

-At least we're away from the humans, sighed Hazel.

* * *

The next day, the rabbits were still hiding under the bed. Luckily for them, the passenger who was supposed to occupy their cabin didn't show up. Pipkin had finally made it onto the bed and was jumping crazily on it. Bigwig had entirely recovered from the previous day's incidents, but the rabbits were facing an even bigger problem: hunger. Since they had left Watership Down, they had eaten absolutely nothing except a few pieces of clover and dandelions in the farmyard. Hazel told the group:

-I think we should go raid a garden. We need some food, and there is clearly no grass anywhere around here. Besides, we're supposed to look for Fiver and Vilthuril, aren't we?

He peaked outside the door. There were several humans walking around, it was clearly a dangerous place.

-Let's wait until tonight, shall we? he added. There are too many humans roaming around this place during the day.

Several hours later, after all the passengers had retreated to their cabins to sleep, the rabbits sneaked out of theirs. There was nobody in sight. They were however faced with the dilemma of choosing whether to go left or right. Bigwig was against the group separating, as this was a dangerous place and if anyone got lost, the others would have to spend time looking for them. That would be a major waste of time, and would cause the chances of getting caught to rise. They eventually decided to begin by going left and, if there was nothing useful there, go right.

The rabbits walked for a short distance and came across a swimming pool. It was currently being drained for cleaning, but the rabbits were nevertheless amazed by it. It contained more water than they had ever seen.

-Is this the Big Water Kehaar talks about all the time? asked Pipkin.

-No, Hlao-roo, came the distant voice of Blackberry, this is! Come take a look!

The four other rabbits stared at each other. For the second time since they had left the Down, Blackberry had vanished mysteriously and was nowhere to be seen.

-Why don't you come take a look?

-We would if we knew where you are, answered Hazel.

-I'm over here, in the boat.

It took a while for the other rabbits to realize that he was referring to a lifeboat that was lying on the deck while awaiting repairs. Hazel, Hyzenthlay and Pipkin jumped into it, while Bigwig stayed outside. He claimed that a sentry was needed, but the real reason was that he was afraid of getting sick like the previous time he looked at one Blackberry's discoveries.

The rabbits sat with their front paws on the side of the boat, staring. Beyond them was an endless mass of water, its surface moving, and making soft noises as the waves crashed onto the ship. It was just like Kehaar had described it, but none of the rabbits really knew what to expect. The idea of so much water was beyond their comprehension.

-Wow! It's so big! said an amazed Pipkin.

-It's...water, said Hazel.

From what Kehaar had told him, he had expected something far more exciting. He could absolutely not comprehend how birds could be interested in such a place.

-It's big and it's made of water. That's why it's called “Big Water”, explained Blackberry.

-I...think we've seen enough now, decided Hazel. This Big Water won't help us find Fiver and, from what Kehaar said, it's full of fish, and you know how that smells.

And the rabbits jumped out of the lifeboat and continued their journey across the deck. There were no other stops until they were faced with a wall. They had travelled from one end of the deck to the other.

-I feel our direction is wrong, complained Bigwig.

-Not necessarily, said Blackberry, who was inspecting a staircase. We can keep going this way.

Bigwig stared at the stairs for a few seconds, before telling the others what he thought about it:

-I'm certainly not going up those things again!

-We don't have to go up. There seem to be others that go down, Hyzenthlay pointed out.

All the rabbits looked at the stairs that went down. It was dark down there, and it looked as if the stairs went on forever. Hazel was the first to go down, eager to show his skill as a leader, and was soon followed by the others. These stairs, unlike those in the hrududu, seemed to be made of thick wire. As a consequence, walking on them was rather unpleasant for the rabbits.

After what felt like a very long time, the rabbits finally reached the bottom of the stairs. It was still dark, and full of smells, all of them new to the rabbits. Then came the faint but unmistakable scent of flayrah.

The rabbits followed the scent all the way to the end of the hallway in which they were, where they were faced with two tall metal things. They were the doors to one of the ship's elevators, this one being used to carry food from the kitchen to the dining rooms. To their left were two other doors, leading to the kitchen itself. Blackberry simply had to push one of them for it to open. While he held it open, the other four rabbits entered the kitchen, and hid under a table.

The kitchen was very large, and very dirty. The floor was littered with vegetable peals and pieces of plastic packaging. The countertops and cooking surfaces were covered with grease and dirty utensils. A party had been held earlier that day on the ship, and the chefs had been forced to prepare twice the usual amount of food in record time. As a consequence, the kitchen was twice as messy.

The janitors were the only people in the kitchen in the early hours of the morning. They were left with the ungrateful task of cleaning up the mess to make the kitchen usable again. It was a very depressing job, and they didn't hesitate to leave some parts of the kitchen dirty if they thought it would take too long to clean them.

From their hiding spot under the table, the rabbits looked around, and finally spotted exactly what they were looking for: a large trash can, filled with vegetables. Most of them were perfectly edible, but had been rejected by the chefs as “imperfect”.

-We found the flayrah. Now how do we get it? asked Bigwig. It seems very high to jump, and there don't seem to be any steps leading to it.

-It's very simple, claimed Blackberry, as he walked to the trash can after a brief look around him for humans. You go like this.

He stood up on his hind legs and put his front paws on the side of the trash can. It vibrated a little, but other than that, nothing happened.

-Everyone, come closer.

The other rabbits were far more cautious as they left their hiding spot. The only human they could see was a hairy old man who was sloppily mopping the floor, so they walked towards Blackberry.

-I need you to help me push this thing. We must all do it at the same time if we want it to work.

-Are you crazy, Blackberry? shouted Bigwig. I refuse to take part in such a foolish trick!

-Bigwig, be quiet! whispered Hyzenthlay. Do you want all the humans to hear you?

Bigwig stood there in shock. He had never been told to be quiet since a training exercise he took part in to earn a spot in the Sandleford owsla. Deep inside him, he knew that he had spoken too loudly, but he could not get over the insult.

By the time he cane to his senses, however, he realized, much to his horror, that the other rabbits had agreed with Blackberry's plan and were pushing the trash can. It was vibrating dangerously, and then it was falling...

* * *

The most dreadful noise of metallic clanging was heard. All the janitors turned and saw an overturned trash can with vegetables everywhere on the floor. And worst of all, five rabbits were sitting next to it.

-I told you it was not a good idea, said Bigwig.

Everyone remained motionless for a few seconds, then Hazel ordered:

-Everyone take a piece of flayrah and run!

The rabbits bolted in random directions. In the urgency of the escape, several had forgotten where the exit was.

Pipkin, in a desperate attempt to avoid the humans, jumped in a big container full of fish. The smell was overpowering and he could absolutely not understand how Kehaar's diet could be based on this disgusting stuff. He looked out, doing his best to avoid being seen, and it seemed that the humans could not tolerate the smell neither, and were now chasing the other rabbits.

Bigwig tried to hide behind a tower of pots and pans. However, there was not enough space between the wall and the pots for him to go through, causing the entire tower to fall down and several humans to trip over them.

Hyzenthlay had jumped on the counter. She zigzagged through the various objects as fast as she could and knocked down many utensils. The countertop was also covered with grease that ended up all over her fur. “I'm going to have a lot of cleaning to do when this is over” she thought.

Blackberry hid inside a cabinet. As he looked around him, he saw something that vaguely looked like a tree root, but that was impossible, as there were no trees anywhere near him. He clawed at it and bit it a few times, then it broke and the room was filled with darkness: it was an electrical wire.

There was a limit to how long the rabbits could have escaped the humans, but with the lights off, they had a major advantage. As they spend most of their time in dark underground burrows, they are able to see in the dark very well. Therefore, as soon as the wire had been chewed, Hazel, who was the only one who had found the way to the exit without trouble, rushed back inside the kitchen to save the others.

The first rabbit he found was Bigwig, trying to find his way through the mess of pots and pans on the floor. Soon afterwards, Hyzenthlay fell between the two after jumping off the counter. The group of three then went to search for the others.

As the lights turned off, Pipkin heard a dreadful noise. He could not stand the smell of fish any longer, so he jumped out of the tank and tried to find where the sound came from. He eventually identified it as coming from a cabinet, and he could smell Blackberry inside. He stamped to alert the other rabbits, who arrived almost immediately.

-There's something wrong with Blackberry! he said, panicking. I think I heard him scream.

The rabbits looked inside and saw the limp body of Blackberry against the dark bottom of the cabinet. He was not moving, but he was breathing. Hazel went inside to get a closer look at him.

-Blackberry? Are you able to walk?

He briefly lifted his head, but was unable to talk.

-We'll have to carry him, decided Hazel. Bigwig, you hold his back legs, Hyzenthlay, you take his middle, and I'll hold his head.

This was a very hard task. When the rabbits had carried Bigwig, they had to push him most of the way, which was much easier. Here, they had to hurry, and pushing Blackberry all the way out of the kitchen would have taken too long. If they were not out of the room by the time the humans brought back the light, they would have to leave him behind to save their own lives, and everyone wanted to avoid that if possible.

After several tense minutes, they were out of the kitchen, but in no better situation. A guard had just arrived through the elevator, having been alerted by the loud noises. The rabbits quickly carried Blackberry inside the elevator. Its doors closed immediately after they got inside, and Bigwig nearly got his tail stuck between them.

Outside, the guard turned on his flashlight and pointed it towards the kitchen.

-What's going on in here? he shouted.

-There were five bloody bunnies running around, angrily replied the hairy old janitor.

-Rabbits? Are you drunk or something?

-WHAT??? Of course not!

-He's telling the truth, you know? added another employee. I saw one, running everywhere and knocking down knives and stuff...

-And I suppose there was one in the fish, too? asked the guard sarcastically.

-Come to think of it, there was...

The guard sighed loudly, then screamed:

-I hope you all know I wanted to be a sailor? And now, here I am, dealing with a bunch of idiots! What did I ever do to deserve all this? GET BACK TO WORK!

He stormed off, so angry that he took the stairs instead of the elevator.

Meanwhile, inside the elevator, the rabbits were tending to Blackberry. He had been badly burned when he had bitten the electrical wire and was in rather bad shape. Luckily for him, the wire was well insulated, otherwise he would have been killed. There was not much the others could besides licking his wounds and staying close to him.

It took a few hours for him to regain consciousness.

-What happened to you? asked Hazel while nuzzling him.

-That thing, it looked like a tree root. But it wasn't. When I chewed it, it felt like I was on fire.

-What dreadful things humans keep in their burrows. I'm sorry you had to go through this, Blackberry. And we're no closer to what we actually set out to: still no trace of Fiver and Vilthuril, and no flayrah.

-Actually, we do have something, corrected Pipkin.

Everyone looked at him. In the far corner of the elevator, there was a large kale, at least twice as big as Pipkin. While not exactly flayrah, it was large enough to sustain the rabbits for a few days.

-How did that get there? questioned Bigwig.

-While you were busy carrying Blackberry, I carried this, answered Pipkin.

-Well, at least this raid wasn't a complete failure, determined Hazel. Can you walk, Blackberry?

He stood up on his four legs and took a few cautious steps.

-I can probably manage it, Hazel. But I probably won't be able to run for a while. How do we get out of here? Where are we, anyway?

None of the rabbits had noticed that the elevator's doors had closed, as they had been too preoccupied with Blackberry. Now, they realized that they were trapped inside. The only way out was to use the buttons, but they were out of reach to the rabbits, and none of them knew their purpose. Bigwig looked around the entire perimeter of the elevator, but could not find a single gap through which they could escape, and the walls were too hard to chew or dig through. As the notion that they were trapped sank into their minds, the rabbits were filled with a sense of panic.

-Everybody stay calm, urged Hazel. If we got in here, there must be a way out. If worse comes to worse and a human finds us here, we just bolt out the way they come from.

Hours passed. The rabbits became nearly tharn. Suddenly, there was a jolt and the ground began to move beneath them. This reminded them of a weak earthquake that had shaken the area around Sandleford Warren a few years before, but this was much stronger. Blackberry was the only rabbit who remained calm as it happened. A few seconds later, he said:

-That's right! We're going up!

The other rabbits looked at him, baffled. Seeing their reaction, he continued his explanation:

-This thing we're in is going up, and we went down for the raid, so we will soon be at the same level we were before.

They were still unable to understand what he had just said.

-Never mind. Just be ready to get out as quietly as possible when the exit appears.

A few seconds later, the elevator stopped and its doors opened. The rabbits were startled by this, but they followed Blackberry's instructions and left the scene quietly, with Bigwig carrying the kale on his back. They did not get noticed by any humans on the way back from their cabin, except one...

-Hey, look mum, a few bunnies! That one looks just like...

-Now, Daisy, you mustn't say things like this in public...

-Oh no, not again! screamed the same guard who had dealt with the janitors earlier that day and overheard Daisy's remark. First the janitors see some rabbits, and now the passengers! Why can't you just shut up? I've heard enough about rodents for the rest of my life!

-How dare you speak to my child like this? said the outraged mother. I'll speak to the captain personally about this and make sure you will be fired! And believe me, you will be!

She stormed off with her child, then turned and added:

- Besides, rabbits aren't rodents, they're lagomorphs.


	6. The Meeting

When he got back he was too tired to talk, and he lay down and went straight to sleep.

\--Robert Munsch, _The Paper Bag Princess_

At Watership Down, the rabbits were having a debate. For a few months, meetings with the rabbits of Watership Down and those of Efrafa were held at Vleflain, Generally, Hazel, Hyzenthlay or Bigwig attended with a few other rabbits. But this time, all three rabbits were still gone on the rescue mission and were therefore unable to attend. After a while, it was decided that Holly would be Chief Rabbit in the others' absence. He chose to bring Bluebell, Speedwell and Blackavar with him.

The Watership party arrived at Vleflain fu Inlé, a while after the Efrafans. This was because Holly, while still an excellent patroller, was unable to travel long distances as well as he used to when he was younger. By the time they had reached the warren, he was completely exhausted and even Bluebell's best jokes could not have kept him going much longer. He got down the first run he found, entered the first burrow and fell asleep almost instantly.

Captain Campion, chief rabbit of Efrafa since General Woundwort's demise, saw the group of rabbits arrive and approached them. He was convinced that the worst had happened, with the major leaders absent and Holly obviously exhausted.

-Are you all right? Where are Hazel, Bigwig and the others?

-Stop worrying, Campion-rah, said Speedwell, everyone is all right. Fiver and Vilthuril went missing a few days ago, and Hazel took Bigwig, Hyzenthlay, Blackberry and Pipkin to go and search for them. They're not back yet, so we're here instead. As for Holly, he's just not as...active as he used to be. Apart from that, it's been mostly back at the Down.

-It's so quiet, pretty much the only thing you hear are insects flying, joked Bluebell.

-It's been also rather boring at Efrafa, commented Campion. Nothing unusual happens.

The rabbits then went underground spent most of the night discussing various things regarding their warrens. Only Blackavar stayed away. He still held a grudge against Campion, who had caught him during his attempted escape from Efrafa the previous summer.

In the morning, the Efrafans went back to their warren. Bluebell woke up Holly, who had slept through the night.

-Oh hello Bluebell. I guess I'm a little late for the meeting, am I?

-Actually, the meeting is finished. It was really boring, so nobody woke you up.

-You mean...I slept all night? I'm really not fit to lead any patrols anymore. Why did the others make me Chief Rabbit? I'm obviously too old to be of any use.

-Holly, how can you say something like that? You're still a valuable asset to the warren, you just need to...take it easy, you know?

-Maybe you're right, but I'm simply unfit to be Chief Rabbit. Bluebell, you really should take it on.

-Who, me? Absolutely not. I make a good sidekick, but I couldn't be a Chief Rabbit. If you want to make me something, let it be captain of owsla.

-No, Bluebell, a Chief Rabbit you shall be. Besides, it's only for a few days. Hazel and the others can't be gone that long, can they? In fact, maybe they're back right now. If it really doesn't work out, you can always appoint someone else.

Holly kept insisting until Bluebell reluctantly agreed, and the four rabbits began the long trip back to the Down.


	7. The Harbour

[...] it's safe to say most people didn't know much about rabbits. They certainly didn't know that rabbits can live freely inside the home [...] or that they can live, cheek-by-jowl, with other rabbits without fighting.

\--Susan E. Davis and Margo DeMello, _Stories Rabbits Tell_

The ship had reached its final destination of New York on time. Now came the hard part: offloading everything on board to make room for more cargo that needed to be shipped elsewhere. Offloading such a large ship was a monumental task in itself, and doing it in just a few hours was nearly impossible. Any delays would cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fiver and Vilthuril were woken up by the annoying beeping of a forklift. Its driver quickly examined the inside of the compartment before beginning to empty it.

As the crates were slowly being removed from the compartment, the rabbits saw all their hiding spots vanish. They were eventually forced to hide in one of the largest crates, which was full of extremely smelly fruit, but it was soon picked up by the forklift and carried to the wharf.

The wharf was in a state of complete chaos. The man who was normally in charge of organizing the offloading was on vacation, and the employee replacing him was very inexperienced and paid more attention to his smartphone than to his job. Because of this, the various containers were badly organized. The forklift driver spent at least ten minutes trying to find a spot to offload the crate in which the rabbits were hiding.

As soon as the shaking stopped, the two rabbits slowly raised their heads and cautiously looked of their crate. Just like in London, there were many smells and many humans, but this was worse, as even the humans were visibly nervous. Vilthuril looked at Fiver to see if he knew what they were to do now. He stared at a faint spot in front of him for a few minutes, before blinking a few times and turning to his mate.

-This is a very dangerous place.

-It does look dangerous.

-But not everything here is bad. There is one human, only one among all these, who truly understands us.

Vilthuril stared at her mate with shock.

-Some humans actually understand rabbits?

-What's your favourite flayrah?

-I don't know...lettuce? What has that got to do with humans understanding us or not?

-Everything. You prefer lettuce and so do I, but all humans seem to think that we prefer carrots. But that's not the only thing. You remember Clover?

-She's the rabbit who used to live at the farm, in the hutch?

-Yes, that's her. What is life like in a hutch? It's like Efrafa, but smaller, much smaller. And while in Efrafa, you generally went to silflay every day, in a hutch you only get to eat when the humans think to give you something, and they have terrible memory. And that's not all. You remember the story of El-ahrairah and the fur farm?

-Unfortunately I do. I never heard it myself, but I remember one of my friends, back in Efrafa, telling me about it. Vervain wanted to demoralize her, so he told it to her with all the dreadful details.

Both rabbits remained motionless and silent for a few minutes, thinking about all the rabbits who suffer because of humans. Then, Fiver continued:

-But not all humans are evil. Some try to change all this, but there are not enough of them. And one of them is somewhere around here. We must find her.

-There are more humans here than I have ever seen before. I really don't see how we can find this one human among all these.

-It shouldn't be too hard. In my vision, I saw what she looks like. A little bit, anyway. All humans look more or less the same, but I should be able to recognize her if I saw her.

Both rabbits jumped out of the crate and walked away from it. Most humans did not notice them, as they were too busy attempting to organize the various containers in crates. Those who did notice them were soon distracted by more important matters.

* * *

Myrna was standing behind a small fence, holding a small notepad and a pencil. She was working for a local newspaper and hoped to be able to write one last article before her trip to California. The chaos at the harbour seemed like a perfect subject. She glanced at the scene again, hoping to notice another small detail to mention in the article. Her eyes immediately caught sight of the two rabbits, calmly walking between two containers.

-There, by the fence, said Fiver. She's the one.

-She's going away, pointed out Vilthuril.

-Then let's follow her.

Myrna came back with two pet carriers, which she always kept in the trunk of her car for such emergencies. She was aware of the danger the rabbits were in and she needed to hurry if she wanted to save them. How they had gotten in the busy harbour, she had no idea, but she had already rescued rabbits from other, far more dangerous situations. She climbed over the fence and talked to the first employee she could find.

-Excuse me, but could you help me catch these two rabbits?

-Go away! Can't ya see I'm busy? And what are you doing here, anyway? You're not an employee! You wanna get killed or what? And did you say bunnies? You're crazy! There ain't no bunnies here!

It was plain to Myrna that nobody would be interested in helping her catch the rabbits. She was profoundly annoyed at the constant indifference of other people, but the fact remained that this time, she would have to do it herself without help. She placed the two carriers on the ground, opened them and remained as quiet as possible. Inside, the rabbits could smell, there was plenty of flayrah.

-Do you smell it too, Fiver?

-Yes. Let's go get it.

The two rabbits approached the carriers. Fiver calmly walked inside the first one, and Myrna closed the grid immediately afterwards. Vilthuril rushed to it.

-Fiver! You're trapped inside!

-Vilthuril, we must not get separated. You must get in the other one, quick! It won't be for long.

Vilthuril realized that Fiver was probably right. Either way, the grid was made of hard plastic that was nearly impossible to chew through. She therefore jumped into the second carrier, and the grid was also closed rapidly.

Myrna was now faced with another problem: what to do with the rabbits. Her train left in less than half an hour, and there was no way she could find a foster home for them in such a short time period. She was left with only one option: bring them with her. She picked up both carriers and went to her car, where she put them in the back seat with the seatbelts attached. Both rabbits could still see each other and touch their noses together, but that was all.

-Of all the things that could have happened, this is one I didn't expect, said Fiver, genuinely surprised.

-We shouldn't worry. You said yourself that this human understands us and that she would take us out of that place.

-I know, but I still didn't expect us to end up in small hutches like this.

-She is the human you saw in your vision, right?

-Of that, I am sure. But what will happen to us now, I have no idea.

* * *

As Myrna tried to board the train, she was stopped by an employee who claimed that the rabbits would not be noisy and disturb the other passengers, so they would have to be put in the baggage car. Myrna calmly explained that rabbits, unlike other animals, are generally silent. She also added that the baggage car was probably full of dogs and cats that would probably scare them to death. The employee refused to listen to her and insisted that letting her keep the rabbits in her compartment would violate company policies. It took ten minutes of arguing before he finally gave in. However, an angry passenger, who had been forced to stand behind Myrna the whole time, vowed revenge.

As soon as she entered her compartment, Myrna collapsed on the seat and fell asleep. The angry passenger, who had been following her since she boarded the train, saw his chance. Using a paperclip, he picked the compartment door's lock. Once inside, he took a large knife out of his pocket and contemplated his possibilities. He wanted to kill the rabbits, as this was a simple way to have revenge, and perfectly legal. The two carriers were under the seat. He opened the grids as quietly as he could to avoid waking Myrna up. However, as soon as he had finished with the second carrier, Vilthuril lunged at him and bit his finger as hard as she could. She held on for a few seconds before letting go.

He only managed to remain quiet because he knew that if he screamed, he would be in even more trouble. He spent several seconds staring with horror at his wounded finger, until his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and saw that the same rabbit had slashed it with her claws several times and was now chewing his shoes apart. He decided that he had had enough and ran away without bothering to keep quiet.

As soon as the passenger had left the compartment, Fiver got out his carrier, and said:

-Good job, Vilthuril! The way you handled this human was great.

-Did you see that thing in his paw? I'm not sure what it was, but it looked very dangerous.

-It doesn't matter. After what you just did, he probably won't be posing a threat to anyone for a long time.

-I never thought I would fight a human, and especially not win the fight. Anyway, it's nice to be out of that embleer box. What do we do now? Should we run away?

-I don't know. Now that we're here, I can't feel anything. It's just a grey mist of possibilities.

-We basically have two choices: we run away or we stay here. I don't really fancy running away with all these humans, so I suggest we stay here.

Both rabbits then hid under the seat and they stayed there for a while, eating the flayrah in the carriers. After a while, as they were sleeping close together, the train suddenly stopped. Both rabbits were knocked off their feet in the process. They shook the dust out of their fur, when suddenly Fiver collapsed. He stayed that way for several seconds, before finally getting back up and telling Vilthuril:

-Unless we want to stay in this hrududu, we have to go back inside that hutch.

-I don't want us to be separated again, Fiver.

-It won't be for long, we will be together again very soon.

Myrna had fallen off her seat when the train stopped. She looked at her watch and realized that she had slept through the entire trip to Chicago and she would now have to change trains. She checked the locks on the carriers, but one of them did not close properly. She got off the train and, after a few minutes, found the one that would take her the rest of the way to California. Luckily, nobody tried to prevent her from bringing the rabbits with her. Once again, she fell asleep again as soon as she sat down in her compartment.

Fiver, meanwhile, pushed against the grid as hard as he could. After a few seconds of pushing, it finally opened. He went to the other carrier and smelled it, trying to figure out how to open the grid. It took several tense minutes of random clawing before it finally opened and Vilthuril could get out.


	8. The Old Captain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The character of Captain Broom comes from the series.

The fact is, I'm all here: head, hands, legs, and all the rest of it, but it happens I'm invisible. It's a confounded nuisance, but I am.

\--H.G. Wells, _The Invisible Man_

* * *

The five rabbits were in their cabin on the cruise ship, which had now reached its destination in Florida. Blackberry had finished his recovery from the incident with the wire, and they had eaten all the kale except the tasteless roots.

-It is now time to continue our search for Fiver and Vilthuril, declared Hazel. Remember the mistakes we made last time. We must remain as quiet as possible and not chew anything that looks strange.

As the rabbits walked towards the door, they smelled that they were not alone. While there were many humans around, there was also another rabbit nearby, although they had never smelled him before. Everyone went back to the hiding spot under the bed, and almost immediately afterwards, a human and a rabbit entered the room. The rabbit looked older than any other rabbit they had ever seen before. His fur was irregular and grey in several spots. Under his chin, there was a slightly longer piece of fur that swept the floor whenever he lowered his head. And worst of all, around his body were several pink wires, one of which went up all the way to the human's hands. As soon as he saw the other rabbits, he started to hop crazily.

-Oh bless my tail, visitors! Oh it's been so long since I set my eyes on other rabbits!

Bigwig moved towards the new rabbit while growling softly.

-Don't be hasty, warned Hazel. The last thing we want is a fight, with that human around.

-He doesn't smell of disease, noted Blackberry. In fact, he doesn't smell like anything, except humans.

-Look, Hazel, I know what I'm doing, insisted Bigwig. If things go wrong, just take the others and run.

He then addressed the new rabbit:

-Who are you and what do you want?

-My name is Broom. “Captain” Broom, if you please, and over here is my friend Lavender. It's nice to meet you.

-Who's Lavender? The human?

-What? Oh no, that's Janice. Lavender has been my friend for a long time. Can't you see her?

The rabbits scanned the area around them, but found nobody else. It was plain that, whoever this Lavender was, she wasn't there.

-Oh yes, nice to meet you, Lavender, joked Pipkin.

-You still haven't answered my question, Broom: what are you doing here? repeated Bigwig.

-Please. “Captain” Broom. As for what I'm doing here, I'm going on a trip with Janice and Lavender.

-How long do you plan to stay here?

-Oh, several days, several days. I hope to get to know you all better.

With that, Bigwig went back under the bed.

-What kind of a rabbit is that? he screamed. Trusting humans, what nonsense! He didn't even seem to care about the wire around him!

-And this Lavender, added Hazel, she obviously doesn't exist!

-Maybe Lavender was his mate or something, suggested Hyzenthlay. She stopped running, and he still hasn't gotten over it, so he believes she's still here.

-And what's with him being called “captain”? asked Blackberry.

-I don't know, replied Bigwig. When he was younger, he might have been a big strong rabbit in an owsla or something. But now, he is the most pitiful rabbit I have ever seen.

-Maybe he knows where Fiver is, wondered Hazel.

-I wouldn't count on that, disagreed Hyzenthlay. From what I've seen of him, I doubt he can be of any help at all.

-But surely there's no harm in asking?

Hazel looked around the room and saw Broom eating what looked and smelled like dry grass further away.

-Uh, Captain? Mind if I ask a question?

-I don't hear you very well. Could you come closer?

-I can't with the human around!

-Oh, Janice is fine, she won't hurt you.

-Maybe not, but I would rather stay away from her if I can. Why don't you come closer?

Broom then slowly hopped over to Hazel.

-Oh, what a strong smell you have! observed Broom. I never smelled such a smelly rabbit. Where do you come from?

-From the high hills. We live away from humans in underground holes and we do as we please.

-But who feeds you? Who changes your litter box?

-What's a litter box? asked Pipkin, who had moved closer to Hazel.

Broom slowly hopped away until he reached a small blue box, into which he hopped.

-This is a litter box. It's where you pass hraka.

-Look, Captain, insisted Hazel, I just want to know one thing: have you seen Fiver?

-What's that name?

-FIVER!

-Fiver, Fiver, let me think...what about you, Lavender, do you know anyone called Fiver?

Broom sat in the litter box for a few minutes, motionless apart from his wiggling nose. Hazel was beginning to think he had forgotten about the question, when suddenly:

-Why yes! I did know a Fiver once!

At this all the rabbits were amazed. This crazy rabbit had actually met Fiver and could possibly help them on their quest. Hazel became very excited.

-Where was that? he said.

-It was at the old Redstone Shelter. Ah how I remember that time, it was...

-How long ago? enquired Hyzenthlay.

-Oh, that was at least hrair years ago, Primrose. It's been so long since he got adopted by these other humans. How I remember the day it happened, there were...

-My name isn't Primrose, Captain, it's Hyzenthlay. But did you know any other Fiver? Or maybe a Vilthuril?

-No, I don't remember anything like that, and Lavender certainly doesn't either. Don't you want to know...

But Hazel had gone back under the bed before he could finish.

-I guess it's not the same Fiver, he concluded sadly. We still have no idea where he might be. So let's go search for him again?

-I really don't fancy it, Hazel, advised Bigwig. That Janice human is somewhere around here. I know Broom says that she won't hurt us, but humans remain unpredictable.

-Just great, complained Blackberry. Just when we were about to make some progress, we end up stuck with a crazy old rabbit. Who knows how much time we will waste because of that.

-They will have to leave this place sooner or later, said Pipkin. Hopefully it won't take too long.


	9. The Rabbit Center

Leave something for someone but don't leave someone for something.

\--Enid Blyton, _Five on a Hike Together_

 

Fiver and Vilthuril were relaxing under the seat. The train stopped slowly as it reached its destination of Richmond, California. The rabbits did not stir. Myrna, however, had already gotten up and was coming back from the washroom. She decided to see how the rabbits were doing and if they had eaten all their flayrah. She panicked when she found the empty carriers, but was relieved when she soon found the rabbits, snuggled together under the seat. She knew they couldn't stay there, so she picked them up and put them back inside the carriers.

While Myrna had several years of experience in handling rabbits, being picked up by a human was an extremely unpleasant experience for the two wild rabbits, especially as they were sleeping just a few seconds before.

-Fiver! Where are you? shouted Vilthuril.

-I'm in the box! replied Fiver just as loudly. Where are you? I can't see you anywhere.

-I'm in the other box. Fiver, are you sure this human really understands us?

-My visions have never been wrong before, so I guess she does.

-Then why are we back inside these boxes?

-She probably has a reason to put us inside, but what exactly, I don't know...

After a while, Myrna finally arrived to her hotel. However, just as the receptionist was about to give her the keys to her room, he told her:

-I'm sorry, Ms. Gilbert, but you can't bring your pets in here.

-What? But I checked on your website and it said that you allowed pets!

-Our website? HEY JOHNNY DO WE HAVE A WEBSITE?

-Yup, came the faint voice of Johnny from another room. It's been there for years, but we never bothered to update it.

-Oh, well that probably explains it. We don't allow rabbits anymore.

-Can't you make an exception, just this once?

-All right, here's what can be done. You can keep the rabbits with you in your room, but they have to be supervised at all times. As a consequence, whenever you leave the room, you must bring them with you. I don't want them to destroy all the wallpaper while you're away.

Myrna was forced to agree, as it was too late for her to choose another hotel. Being forced to bring the rabbits with her everywhere for the next few days was going to be really annoying. She wanted to attend a conference organized by the House Rabbit Society at their international headquarters, and bringing the rabbits with her to the Rabbit Center was going to be problematic...

* * *

The next morning, Myrna went to the Rabbit Center to attend the first meetings. She had been forced to bring Fiver and Vilthuril with her and, as she had thought, there was hardly any space for them to stay. A small enclosure was hurriedly set up for them with a few cardboard boxes for them to hide in, and the carriers were opened, allowing them to get out. The smell of rabbits was everywhere.

-Frith-rah, gasped Vilthuril. I've never smelled so many rabbits in one place since Efrafa. But there's something else, and I don't understand it.

-They don't live on the high hills, Vilthuril my dear, they live with humans, explained Fiver. That's why their smell is unusual.

-I know, but there's something else. It feels like...

Vilthuril slowly moved further ahead into the enclosure, and slightly turned her head, before laying down and saying:

-It's a river of knowledge.

-I thought the river was in Efrafa?

-There is another one here. Can you feel it?

Fiver lied down close to his mate, trying to imitate her position to get in the path of the knowledge.

-I feel something, but it's not very clear. It sounds confusing. Is it about Flyairth?

-No, it's not about her. I don't even know if it's about rabbits.

Both rabbits remained motionless for a while, before Vilthuril finally managed to determine what the knowledge was about.

-There are two humans that were caught by the human owsla because they took things that didn't belong to them. They were taken to a place where bad humans are sent, but they escaped and now they are taking more things.

-This is even weirder than when the river told you about Flyairth, but I have a feeling that this information may be of use to us soon. Either way, we should get out of here.

They looked around them. The metal barricade that delimited the enclosure was impossible to chew through. The only way out was through a window, but it was too high to jump to.

-We'll have to jump on other things if we want to make it out, suggested Vilthuril.

They then started to rearrange the various boxes in their enclosure and piling them up near the window, building an unstable tower. Vilthuril used it to jump onto the windowsill, and pressed her nose against the mosquito screen.

-It works, Fiver, she told her mate. It will be very easy to chew a hole in this thin wire-thing.

Fiver, however, seemed preoccupied. He was staring through the barricade at a certain object. It was a camera, that was going to be used to film a lecture that evening. Vilthuril jumped down and looked at it too.

-I don't know what this thing is, admitted Fiver. But I have the feeling it could somehow be useful.

Vilthuril did not understand what it was either. She put her paw through the barricade and clawed at it with the hope of bringing it closer to them, making it easier to examine. Instead, a beep was heard and a small red light appeared.

-By Frith, that's right! said Fiver.

Fiver then pressed his nose through the barricade and said, loudly and while detaching his words:

-We are not human companions. We are going home. Goodbye.

He then dashed towards the tower and jumped onto the windowsill, followed soon afterwards by his mate. Both rabbits were out of the building in no time.

After jumping out the window, they landed in the middle of the shelter's vegetable garden. They had a quick silflay and walked towards the street.

Vilthuril had never seen a road so closely before. Neither had Fiver, apart from the one he had crossed after the escape from Sandleford warren, but this was a large city street, not a small country road. There were too many hrududil for the rabbits to safely cross it. They therefore stayed on the sidewalk.

After a while, Vilthuril asked:

-Who were you talking to, after I touched that human thing?

-To the humans.

-Why? Humans don't speak Lapiné.

-I just didn't want them to worry. They understand rabbits, but they made one mistake: believing we are the type of rabbits they keep as companions. So I told them we're not.

-And that thing I touched...it allowed them to understand you?

-Maybe, maybe not. I have a feeling it did because, you see, we are...

Suddenly, he stopped talking and moving and started to have a vision. As soon as he regained touch with reality, he warned:

-We must get out of here! We can go anywhere, inside that hrududu will be fine!

The hrududu Fiver was referring to was a small car parked next to them, with its door open. Both rabbits quickly jumped inside. Almost immediately afterwards, the ground began to shake.

The earthquake was very weak, but rabbits are more sensitive to vibrations than humans. Vilthuril felt very nervous, as this reminded her of an earthquake a few years before in Efrafa. A burrow in which several of her friends were sleeping had collapsed. They had all suffocated to death because she had been arrested for trying to dig them out, as all digging without council permission was strictly forbidden.

The ground kept shaking for a few seconds when suddenly, a trash can fell over, right where the two rabbits were standing a few seconds before. Had it not been for Fiver's vision, they would have been crushed.

A while later at the Rabbit Center, a volunteer was giving flayrah to the rabbits in the shelter, when she found the empty enclosure. All meetings came to an abrupt halt as everyone went to search the area around the building for the rabbits. While they didn't find Fiver and Vilthuril, they did find two stray rabbits. The recording Fiver had left was also found, and the discovery of talking rabbits made headlines all over the world. While it was quickly dismissed by the scientific community, it became the subject of several conspiracy theories.


	10. Confusion

People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.

\--Leo Tolstoy, _War and Peace_

 

-And suddenly, I heard a loud noise from another room. It sounded like...I don't know what it sounded like. It was loud, but I can't describe it. So I heard a loud noise, and then...

“Captain” Broom was telling the story of how he had ended up at the Redstone Shelter. Hazel and the others had already heard it hrair times, with major differences each time. Hazel was sure that Broom made up most of it as he told it.

-Let me guess, Broom, said Bigwig. The human screamed, right?

-Please, “Captain” Broom. And yes, Lionhead, how did you know?

-Will you ever get my name right, Broom? It's Bigwig. Not Lionhead.

Broom remained silent for a few seconds.

-Well, there's no need to be rude about it! Anyway, the human screamed and ran everywhere. He took a long round thing that makes light. You know these things? They are sometimes big. Then, it suddenly becomes very bright. But after a while it stops being bright. It's dark again. It must be very dark under the bed, where you're hiding. You are under the bed, right?

The five rabbits looked at each other, exasperated. For several days they had been trapped under the bed, with Broom telling them his story over and over again. The only time they could have some peace and quiet was when Janice took Broom for his daily walk.

-Captain, aren't you tired? asked Hazel. Don't you want to sleep?

-But I haven't finished to tell you this story! I didn't even reach Redstone yet! But don't worry, it's not far now. So, as I was saying, the cats were everywhere. Everywhere. Well, mostly cats, but the human didn't care. He just sat and watched his magic box all day. Did I tell you about these magic boxes? There are lots of small humans in them. I never understood how they can be so small. But these humans, they do many things.

-Oh, please Hazel-rah, begged Pipkin, keep him quiet. I don't want to hear more about these dreadful magic boxes.

-Don't worry Hlao-roo, I'll distract him.

He then turned to the “captain”.

-Oh yes, very interesting Captain. Now why don't you tell us about when you arrived at Redstone?

-Nice to see you're interested, my boy. So, I was taken there with some cats and the slither thing, but I didn't see any of them again. I don't know what happened to them. But this Redstone place was a shelter for rabbits. And suddenly...I saw her. And I fell in love.

-Oh no, not that one again, mumbled Bigwig.

-Primrose, continued “Captain” Broom, turning to Hyzenthlay, you may not be yellow like the last time I saw you, but you are still as beautiful. I've been wanting to ask you this for all these years, ever since I first saw you that day at Redstone. Will you be my mate?

Hyzenthlay was shocked and horrified at being asked such a question. She was still getting over it when she realized that the captain was approaching her to mate with her. She backed away, growling.

-What's the matter, Primrose? Don't you want to mate?

-Captain, I am not Primrose. You're confusing me with another rabbit.

-What? But that's impossible! If you're not Primrose, then who are you?

-Look Broom, exploded Bigwig, I've had enough of you and Redstone and everything! Silflay hraka!

Broom seemed to calm down for a few minutes, before he approached Blackberry and said:

-Well, Blackberry, since Primrose won't be my mate...

-At least he gets one name right, mumbled Bigwig.

-...will you accept my offer?

-Hold on. You're asking ME to mate with YOU?

-Why of course! What did you think I was asking you?

-I can't mate with you! I'm a buck!

-What? My nose isn't working as well as it used to, but I should at least be able to differentiate a buck and a doe. Are you sure you're not a doe?

-Of course I'm not! Where did you ever get such a silly idea? I don't smell like one, I don't look like one, I don't talk like one, I haven't dug like one for a long time...

-Don't be naughty, my boy. On more than one occasion at Redstone, I saw some bucks digging and to save their reputation, they pretended to be does until...

-I hate you!

-ENOUGH! screamed Bigwig.

When everyone became silent, he continued:

-Look Broom, you have tormented us ever since you arrived, Broom. Your stories are stupid and of no importance to us, Broom. You've harassed Hyzenthlay, angered Blackberry, and you are getting on everyone's nerves, Broom. So, this is my last warning to you, Broom, shut up or you will meet the Black Rabbit of Inlé by the end of the day!

Broom remained immobile for a few minutes. Could Bigwig finally have succeeded in bringing him back to reality? Then, their hopes were smashed:

-It's “Captain” Broom!

At that moment, they saw him being picked up by the human. When he was put back on the floor a few seconds later, he was wearing his pink wires again.

-Well, I guess it's time for my walk again. Goodbye everyone! You coming, Lavender?

-Farewell, Broom, said Bigwig.

As soon as he was out of the room with Janice, the other rabbits left their hiding spot under the bed. They were hoping to be able to leave this place at once and continue their search for Fiver and Vilthuril, but this proved to be impossible when they realized that the door was closed and there was no way they could open it. Instead, they went to Broom's food bowls.

-I was beginning to think he was never going to leave, said Pipkin. This was the most exhausting day of my life!

-You're not alone, Hlao-roo, agreed Hazel. I don't think there is a rabbit I hate more than the captain, except maybe General Woundwort.

Within a few minutes, the rabbits had devoured all of Broom's flayrah. As they had not eaten since the previous day, they were extremely hungry, so they also had to eat his hay, or, as they called it, dry grass.


	11. The Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters of Hickory and Marigold come from the series.

The only point in having enemies is so you can defeat them, kill them, brush them aside.

Or give them a chance to redeem themselves.

\--Derek Landy, _Death Bringer_

* * *

At Watership Down, Silver was talking with Bluebell about the possibility of taking out a patrol. Bluebell had never led one before, generally acting as a sidekick to Holly instead. However, Silver insisted that Bluebell, as Chief Rabbit, should be the patrol's leader. He reluctantly agreed, and the two rabbits left with Blackavar and Sandwort.

The four rabbits wandered through the area, when suddenly Sandwort startled.

-Keep quiet, he warned. There are other rabbits, strangers, in those bushes over there. We must find them before they find us.

As Bluebell got closer to the bushes, he had a vague feeling of recognizing the strangers' smell. Suddenly, two rabbits jumped out of the bushes, and only then did he remember where he had smelled them before. All his strength deserted him, he fainted.

With Bluebell unconscious, Silver became acting leader of the patrol, and examined the two strangers. They were a buck and a doe, both of them too small to pose a threat if they attacked. They showed no sign of disease, but Silver could sense something unusual about their smell without being able to identify exactly what it was.

-Are you Hazel? asked the buck.

This question worried Silver. These two outsiders clearly knew a certain amount of information about Watership Down. Were they spies from another hostile warren?

-I am a friend of Hazel, replied Silver. Who are you and what do you want?

-We need your help. We have travelled a long distance and there seem to be elil everywhere.

Silver thought quickly. While the two rabbits were most likely telling the truth, he was still worried about their smell. The safest bet would be to take them to Vleflain and, if they were to show any sign of hostility, confront and kill them if necessary.

-I know a safe place nearby. Can you help us carry our Chief?

The trip to Vleflain took a long time, as carrying Bluebell was harder than expected. Despite everyone's efforts, the rabbits only reached the warren fu Inlé, and were greeted by Strawberry. He displayed a mixture of shock and fear when he saw the two hlessil.

-What's wrong, Strawberry? questioned Silver.

-Hickory and Marigold...whispered Strawberry.

-You know them?

-Strawberry, is that you? asked the doe.

At this, Strawberry bolted down the nearest run he could find.

-What was all that about? Do you know him? enquired Silver, addressing the two hlessil.

-Why yes, we were good friends with him at his old warren...

-Embleer Frith, that's what I smelled! You're from Cowslip's warren! You killed Pimpernel!

As he heard Silver's accusations, Blackavar lunged at the two rabbits. He had never been to Cowslip's warren, but from what other rabbits had told him about the place, he thought every rabbit there should be killed. Silver and Sandwort struggled to restrain him.

-No, that isn't a good idea, said Silver. We shall give them what they didn't give Pimpernel: a fair trial.

Hickory and Marigold were brought underground to the largest burrow of the warren. The owsla randomly chose hrair bucks and hrair does from the warren to be on the jury. Groundsel, Chief Rabbit of Vleflain, served as the judge. Blackavar remained apart, as he would have preferred to kill both rabbits without bothering with what he considered to be pointless technicalities. Sandwort was left to look after Bluebell, and the trial began.

The first witness was Buckthorn, who explained the unnatural ways of the rabbits of Cowslip's warren, with Silver occasionally adding a few details. Strawberry then took the stand:

-I really don't think they mean any harm. Even if the rabbits of that warren wanted revenge against Hazel-rah and the others for taking me with them, Cowslip isn't the kind of rabbit to send others to do his own dirty work, he would go himself. Besides, I wasn't kidnapped, I chose to go with Hazel-rah after...Nildro-hain...

With that, he broke down crying and retreated to his burrow. He had still not gotten over the death of his mate, who had been taken by the wire.

Finally, it was the two rabbits' turns to take the stand. They went to the centre of the burrow and were visibly nervous. Marigold was the first to speak.

-Everything that has been said so far is true. We built shapes, forgot El-ahrairah and told weird poems. We did all these things, there is no use concealing it. But a few months ago, things started to change. The wires began to take more and more of our rabbits, up to a point where many of us were afraid of going silf. There were always a few discontented rabbits at the warren, who considered leaving but were too afraid of the outside world to do anything about it. However, by that point there was a serious movement for abandoning the warren entirely and starting a new life elsewhere. We would have left right there and then, if it weren't for Cowslip and a few others, who wanted nothing of the sort and fought back. They bullied those who wanted to leave and sometimes purposefully sent them into the snares. This continued until last week, when the fight broke out.

-It was a dreadful day, continued Hickory. Early that morning, Cowslip brought a large group of rabbits into the great burrow and ordered them to “kill all dissidents”. By the time Silverweed stopped us ni-Frith, over half of the rabbits in the warren were dead, including Cowslip himself, and many more were injured. There were only three bucks left: me, Silverweed and another one called Gentian. Silverweed then reminded us of Hazel and the others with whom Strawberry had left. Everyone agreed to send us to the high hills to find him and seek his help in establishing a new warren for the survivors.

-That was a few days ago, said Marigold. Ever since that day, we've been wandering through the area, searching for Hazel's warren. Yesterday, we thought we had found it, but it turned out we were wrong. The chief was a doe called Flyairth, and she kicked us out of the warren almost immediately after our arrival. She claimed that no hlessil are allowed to enter because she can't risk anyone being infected with the White Blindness.

As the two rabbits finished their testimony, silent, the members of the jury spent a few minutes deliberating, before one of them pronounced the verdict:

-Most of us are former Efrafans who were only given a decent chance at life after General Woundwort vanished and Vleflain was established. These two rabbits were clearly never able to accomplish anything good. Now it seems they are ready to make the effort to begin a new life and they should therefore be released. Actually, since it is clear they have no experience in living a natural life, we should actually help them in getting started and relearning the ways of rabbits.

-All charges against these two rabbits are hereby dropped, declared Groundsel.

-I'm sorry I behaved hastily when I learned where you came from, apologized Silver. We will help you start your new life.

-It's all right, said Hickory. Considering you've already been to that dreadful place, I can't say I blame you for reacting that way.


	12. The Robbers

 

[Crimes] shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others with a desire for imitation.

\-- _Motion Picture Production Code_

 

Fiver and Vilthuril were still hiding inside the hrududu when, suddenly, two men came running out of a nearby building. They threw a bag through the hrududu's window onto the back seat, before entering the vehicle, which started to move. Luckily, the rabbits were under the driver's seat and remained unnoticed. Vilthuril smelled the humans for a few seconds.

-These are the two humans the river told me about, she said in shock.

-The two that take things that don't belong to them? questioned Fiver.

-Yes. It is them, confirmed Vilthuril. I am sure of that. I hope they won't try to hurt us.

-Don't worry, Vilthuril my dear, I have a plan.

Fiver then ceased to move and began to stare in front of him. A few minutes later, the man in the passenger seat grimaced.

-What's the matter, Frank? asked the driver. Did you see some cops or something?

-No, boss, I just feel a strange...tickling inside my brain, answered Frank.

-You're probably drunk.

-Boss, how many times do I have to remind you, I didn't drink anything since last week!

-All right, all right! Now leave me alone, will you? I'm trying to drive.

Both humans remained quiet for a few minutes, until Frank let out a terrible scream.

-Shut up! ordered the boss. You will attract the attention of every cop in the city!

-Boss! There is something trying to take over my brain!

-Frank, you've got to be kidding.

-No! I can feel it! It's getting closer and closer every second!

-Don't let it worry you! It's not as if your brain was important, anyway.

-Please boss, you've got to do something!

-Shut up! I don't want to hear anything about your brain until we're on the plane to Mexico.

The humans remained silent for a while until several minutes later, when the boss started to moan.

-What's the matter boss? said an exhausted Frank.

-It's my brain! It feels as if it's about to explode!

-Oh no, not you too!

-Look, Frank, you take the wheel, I'm too exhausted to keep driving.

-Are you kidding? I'm not any better than you are. I say we take a taxi.

-What? Are you crazy, Frank? The driver would report us to the police.

-Then why don't we just stop and wait?

-Get this through that thick empty skull of yours, Frank: we haven't a minute to lose. If we miss our plane, we will surely be caught by the police and be sent back to jail, with another ten years or something for breaking out. We have no choice but to keep going. But I don't know how long I can keep fighting that invader. It keeps getting stronger and stronger.

-An invader, boss! You don't think it's...something from another world?

-Frank, I already have enough problems right now, I don't need your complaints!

With that, the boss punched Frank in the face, knocking him unconscious, and Fiver collapsed to the ground.

-Fiver! Are you all right? You really had me scared just now.

-Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that I'm completely exhausted, after what I did to the humans.

-What exactly were you doing?

-The same thing I did to Vervain back at the Down. After I regained consciousness after that terrible vision I had just been through, the full extent of my powers came to me. I don't know exactly how it happened, I simply realized I could entirely access Vervain's mind and even modify it. I tried to do it again with these humans, but I drained all my mental energy in the process. I won't be able to have any visions for a while, for how long I don't know. Do you have any idea what we should do now?

-Generally you're the one who feels what should be done in situations like this. I'll have to think about it.

Meanwhile, the boss realized that the brain invader was no longer troubling him. He continued to drive, fast but not so fast that he would attract attention, until Frank regained consciousness and pointed a gun at him.

-You hit me, you jerk! What did you do that for?

-I kicked the brain invader out of your head.

Frank waited a few seconds before answering:

-You're right! It IS gone! Boss, you're the best!

With that, he dropped the gun between the seats and tried to hug the boss.

-Yeah, yeah, I'm the best, now let me drive, will you?

Fiver and Vilthuril leapt back in fear when the gun landed next to them, between the seats. They were afraid it might go off any time. They crouched as far away from it as they could for what felt like a long time, until Vilthuril suggested:

-Why don't we use it against the humans?

-I guess we could, replied Fiver, but I don't know if it will help. Neither of us know how these things work, but I can't think of a better option, so we might as well try.

Vilthuril slowly approached the gun. She touched it a few times with one of her front paws, but nothing happened. She got a little closer, and succeeded in pulling the trigger. The bullet smashed the windshield into a thousand pieces.

-Hey! Frank, what is wrong with you?!

-I swear, boss, I didn't fire that gun! I swear, it wasn't me!

-Frank, in all my life, I've never had a partner as incompetent as you.

With that, he punched Frank in the face again. A few minutes later, they had reached a parking garage near San Francisco International Airport, and the boss got out of the car without bothering to close the door.

-Vilthuril, my dear, have you any idea where we should go now? asked Fiver. We definitely can't stay inside this hrududu. The human who is still inside looks like he is sleeping, so we can safely leave, but where do we go now?

-I really don't know. This place looks like it's underground, but it's such a wide open space! observed Vilthuril. What prevents the ceiling from falling down? There are definitely no tree roots here.

-So we just...wander around until we find an exit?

-I guess that may be our only choice.

They stepped out of the hrududu and walked throughout the building. Luckily for them, they quickly found an open door that led to a small field near a runway. The two rabbits tried to silflay, but found the grass to be nearly as it was covered with pesticides.

-Maybe the grass on the other side of that fence tastes better? suggested Vilthuril.

The two rabbits dug a small tunnel under the fence surrounding the runway, but found, much to their disappointment, that the grass tasted just as badly on the other side. Suddenly, they heard a loud noise, the loudest they had ever heard. It was the engines of an airplane about to take off. Before it could move, however, several police vehicles arrived on the runway.

-Fiver, do you have any idea what is happening over there? shouted Vilthuril, doing her best to be heard despite the noise.

-Let's go closer and see!

-I don't think I could stand this noise if we go any closer!

At that moment, the engines stopped. Several police officers got out of their vehicles and inside the airplane. The rabbits hid under one of the cars to observe proceedings from a reasonably safe distance. Soon afterwards, they saw the officers coming back out of the airplane, carrying the handcuffed boss with them; the shot that broke the windshield attracted the attention of nearby police officers, who followed the car all the way to the airport and manged to arrest the criminals before the airplane could take off.

-Well, that takes care of one of them, said Fiver. What do you think happened to the other one?

-I don't know, Fiver my dear. Maybe he's still...

Their conversation was cut short, however, by the airplane's engines starting again. The noise was deafening and prevented the rabbits from thinking logically. They both followed their instincts and bolted, but in opposite directions.


	13. The Terrible Bag

 

"Chester, what are you doing with that steak?"

"Haven't you gotten him out of there yet?"

"I can't get either of us out of here. My head's stuck."

\--Deborah and James Howe, _Bunnicula_

 

-And then Janice came. She looked at several rabbits, oh yes several rabbits...Are you even listening?

The five wild rabbits were trying to sleep under the bed with torn tissues stuffed inside their ears. It was the only way they could escape “captain” Broom's incessant talking.

-When we ever get out of this place, do we take him with us? mumbled Pipkin.

-Absolutely not! If we're still here fu Inlé, I will kill him, I tell you, replied Bigwig.

-Come on Bigwig, he's a rabbit. We should let him come with us if he wants to, said Hazel.

-What are you all talking about? Where do you want to bring me? I don't want to go anywhere. I'm happy with Janice. And those high lonely caves you talked about, they sound rather boring. I don't want to go.

-That's great, because we're not taking you with us, decided Hyzenthlay.

-In that case, Primrose, will you stay here with me?

-Captain, you've asked me this same question hrair times, and the answer remains the same: NO.

-Well, if you change your mind, I'll be in my litter box.

With that, he slowly walked away and jumped into the small box. He remained there until Janice picked him up several minutes later. The cruise was over and the ship was in Lima; it was therefore time all the passengers to leave the ship.

-Lavender, do something! shouted Broom while being dragged out of the room by his leash. Stop Janice! I have to ask Primrose if she changed her...

It was no use. Both Broom and Janice had vanished behind the door before he could finish his sentence.

-Now that he's gone, we can continue our search for Fiver and Vilthuril, decided Hazel.

The five rabbits got rid of their tissues and walked out of the cabin. There were very few humans around, as most of them were busy packing their suitcases. They had already searched the deck during the kitchen raid a while before, so they instead took the ramp that led off the ship. However, they soon discovered that the place they were now in was full of humans, and they nearly got stepped on several times.

-This place isn't safe, warned Bigwig. Fiver and Vilthuril can't be here. We must get away too before we get crushed, or worse.

-You're right about that, Bigwig, agreed Hazel. We must leave this place fast.

-We shall therefore take a hrududu, announced Blackberry in the most natural way possible.

The other four rabbits looked at him as if he was the Black Rabbit of Inlé.

-Come on, be reasonable, Blackberry, you remember what happened to Bigwig the last time we were in one, reminded Hazel.

-Can you suggest any better way to leave this place? With so many humans, it's perhaps the only way.

-Then it's settled, concluded Hazel. We're taking a hrududu out of here. Blackberry, you're our hrududu expert. Which one do we take?

Blackberry scanned the area for any immobile hrududil with open doors. The only one he could find was an old taxicab. The five rabbits went inside and jumped on the seat.

They did not have to wait long for the hrududu to move. A few seconds later, a middle-aged man entered it, carrying a very large and heavy bag. He told the driver:

-Get me to the airport and hurry! I'm late already.

-You better fasten your seatbelt.

-Never mind that, get going!

-Suit yourself.

With that, the hrududu started moving very fast. The rabbits were unharmed, as they had buried their claws into the fabric of the seat. The man's bag, however, fell onto the floor and opened, spilling personal hygiene products and business papers everywhere.

-Aw, look at what you just did! he screamed angrily. Drive carefully!

-Do you want fasten your seatbelt now? insisted the driver without slowing down.

-As soon as I clean up this mess.

He put the bag on the seat next to the rabbits. He noticed them, but did not consider their presence unusual as he was too worried about having to classify his papers all over again.

Pipkin put his head inside the bag and came out with a piece of paper in his mouth. He began to chew it and soon had a long strip of paper dangling from his mouth.

-This tastes fine. Want to have some?

The other rabbits took a bit out of other sheets. The paper didn't taste very good, but they were extremely hungry.

As Hazel finished his sheet, he jumped inside the bag to get another one. At that moment, the human placed the last few sheets back inside and zipped it up, trapping him inside.

-Nice pets you got, commented the driver.

-Pets? What pets?

-Those on the seat next to you.

-Oh, they're not mine. HEY THEY'RE EATING MY PAPER!

With that he pulled one sheet out of Bigwig's mouth. The owsla captain was profoundly angry at this. He jumped onto the human's head, only to fall back down with a wig in his mouth.

-Let this be a lesson to you, he mumbled while attempting to remove a few hairs that had gotten stuck between his teeth. Never take food away from me.

-Where's Hazel-rah? pondered Pipkin.

None of the rabbits had realized that their chief had mysteriously vanished. They were too absorbed with eating the paper and looking at Bigwig bravely attacking the human, and only then did they notice his absence. Then, they heard a faint sound of:

-help...help...

-Hazel, where are you? asked Pipkin.

-I’m inside this...the human trapped me...

-Blackberry, you find a way out of that thing, ordered Bigwig while I deal with the human once and for all.

With that, he growled ferociously, jumped onto the human and bit his ear.

-I've had just about enough of this stupid cab! screamed the human as soon as Bigwig had let go. Let me out, I'm walking the rest of the way.

-It's a bit too late for that, we're already here.

-Oh. How much do I owe you?

-Five-hundred sols.

-That's robbery! Surely I deserve a compensation for my ear, my wig and my bag!

-Maybe, but you must also pay these rabbits' fare.

-They are not my pets!

-The counter is still running, you know.

The passenger grumbled and took out his wallet to pay the bill.

-How are things going, Blackberry? asked a worried Hyzenthlay.

-Not very well, I'm afraid. I have no idea how to open this bag. It seems we will have to chew a hole, and I'm going to need everyone's help.

However, before they could start chewing the bag, the passenger picked it up and walked out of the taxicab without closing the door.

-All right, bunnies, you had your free ride, said the driver. You can now leave, I'm not taking you further.

The four rabbits had nearly gone tharn after the human left with Hazel. Their leader was imprisoned by the human, and it was their job to free him, although none of them knew how they would do that. They jumped out of the hrududu and followed the human. However, he was already far ahead of them and walked much faster than they did, and soon vanished inside a building.

-All right, here's what we do, decided Bigwig. I go inside, and you all spread out and block the other exits. Once I find him, I stamp. I fight him, and you free Hazel while he's distracted. Any questions?

-Bigwig, you know you can't fight this human alone, pointed out Blackberry.

-It won't be for long, just long enough for you to chew a hole through the bag Hazel is.

-The material the bag is made of is very hard to chew, Bigwig, that may take a while.

-Well in that case can't you just move the bag away from the human while I fight him?

-That thing is heavy, especially with a rabbit inside.

-Well, you and Hyzenthlay can certainly push it...wait a minute. Where is Hyzenthlay?

The two rabbits had been too busy arguing to notice that the doe had slipped away.

-She said something about following the river to the other side of the building where Hazel would be, and decided to go investigate, said Pipkin.

-Oh just wonderful! complained Bigwig. Now we have to look for two rabbits! Did you notice which way she went, Pipkin?

-Follow me.

Pipkin led the other two rabbits behind the building the human had entered, following Hyzenthlay's scent for a while before they finally caught up with her.

-What are you on about, running away from us? screamed Bigwig. Wasting our time while Hazel is still trapped inside that bag!

-Hey Bigwig, calm down, you're a captain of owsla and she's a Chief Rabbit, so she outranks you, argued Pipkin.

Bigwig hesitated for a few seconds, then continued:

-Well just my point exactly! As co-chief-rabbit you should know better than that.

-But there's the river of knowledge...began Hyzenthlay.

-That was in Efrafa!

-I felt another river here. It took me a while before I finally noticed it, but then it all became clear: it was telling me which way to go to find Hazel. He will be out of that building soon. If we had gone inside, we would have gotten lost, so it is much safer for all of us to just let the humans get him out of there than going there ourselves. But we're wasting time now, let's get going.

She continued following the river, with the others behind her. The path was long and twisted, and to make matters worse, the rabbits also had to avoid getting stepped on by humans. After what felt like forever, they had reached a runway.

-Over there! said Blackberry, looking at an airplane, where the luggage was being loaded. I can see Hazel's bag.

The rabbits then ran extremely fast towards the airplane. As soon as the humans had their back turned, they ran inside the hold, where they saw many bags, several similar to the one Hazel was in.

-Hazel-rah is in here somewhere. I can smell him, said Pipkin.

-Are you sure it's Hazel-rah's smell, Pipkin?

-I would know his smell anywhere, Bigwig.

-Well we shall find Hazel even we have to tear apart every one of these bags!

Each rabbit went to a bag and began to chew it. The progress was slow, and they didn't stop when the hold was closed or when the airplane took off towards its destination of New Zealand.


	14. Separating and Reuniting

He fell silent. For several moments they all did, and the quiet had the feel of a deliberate thing. Then Eddie said, "All right, we're back together again. What the [Inlé] do we do next?”

\--Stephen King, _The Dark Tower_

 

Fiver was inside the luggage compartment on the airplane. He had bolted inside after the engines had started, but now he realized that he was alone. He could not see, smell or hear any other rabbits around him. His precious Vilthuril was gone.

Fiver tried not to despair. Maybe Vilthuril was somewhere near. This place was full of hiding spots. He looked around for several hours, but without success. To make matters worse, his mind remained empty of visions. “Why did I have to drain my mind with these humans?”, he thought sadly.

* * *

Vilthuril had jumped on the landing gear mechanism. This was a terrifying experience, especially after the plane took off: she felt like she had been picked up by flying elil. She gripped tightly at the tire to avoid falling off, but luckily, the landing gear soon retracted inside the airplane and the compartment closed itself.

While she was no longer in any danger of falling off, she was now faced with several other problems. Since the compartment was not pressurized, she was in danger of suffocation. She was starting to feel drowsy, so she hurriedly looked for a way out of the compartment. At first she saw nothing, but suddenly she noticed that a small part of one of the walls around the compartment looked slightly damaged. She clawed at the wall a few times and saw several pieces of it fell off. She continued to tear it apart until she finally managed to break through it. There was a terrible smell, but at least she could now breathe.

Vilthuril had broken into the lavatory. At the moment, it was unoccupied, but the last passenger who had visited it didn't flush. She called out to Fiver, but received no answer. She looked around the room, and there didn't seem to be any other way out, as the door was closed. She would have to dig another one.

After several hours of continuous working, interrupted only by occasional noises from elsewhere on the airplane, she had finally managed to make a hole in the floor large enough for her to go through. There was only a thin layer of material between her and whatever was below that. She hesitated for a while before jumping into the hole. She had clearly seen the airplane take off and had concluded that she was some distance above the ground, and falling out of this hrududu would kill her. She eventually decided to try her luck, as there was no other way she could go.

As soon as she fell through the floor, she realized that she was still inside the hrududu, and that there was something on the floor where she was going to land, something alive, but everything happened so quickly she couldn't tell what it was before she hit it.

* * *

Fiver did not know what had just happened. The thing that had landed on top of him was slightly larger than he was, but he nevertheless managed to push it next to him to examine it. It was Vilthuril.

Both rabbits stared at each other for a few seconds. Vilthuril did not expect that reuniting with her mate would happen so suddenly. Fiver, by that point, was nearly convinced she had stopped running. They touched their noses together, to prove to themselves that they were really there, then moved closer to each other. They did not care where they were, or where they were going, they were together. That was all that mattered.


	15. The Machines

 

I do not know who this Law Suit guy is, but he sure likes to write a lot!

\--Silverweed's Claws

 

The four rabbits destroyed bags for a long time before they finally found Hazel. He was very weak and there were several cuts on his body, but other than that, he was unharmed.

-What ever happened to you, Hazel? asked Bigwig. You look like you've been attacked by a small cat!

-It was terrible. I've been moved around so violently and for so long. I swear at one point the bag was thrown somewhere and I landed on my back. And all this paper inside, it kept cutting me everywhere.

-It's all right now, reassured Hyzenthlay, you are now safe in...where are we?

-I don't know if any of you felt it a while ago, but we are not where we were when we got here, explained Blackberry.

Seeing the stunned looks of the others, he clarified:

-We are inside a hrududu right now, and it is no longer touching the ground. So either the ground fell down or the hrududu went up. I suspect the latter, which would mean that we are up in the air somewhere.

-Oh, come on Blackberry, said Bigwig, talk sense. There is no such thing as a flying rabbit. I tried it once as a kitten. I simply fell back onto the ground and got a thorn in my ear.

Seeing the amused look on the other rabbits' faces and eager to forget this unfortunate kittenhood blunder, he added:

-Well, anyway, how do we get out of here? I'm sure Hazel needs to silflay.

-We can't, pointed out Blackberry. As you can see, there is no way out of this place, and we probably can't dig one.

-Then we're trapped here? realized Pipkin. With nothing to eat but paper?

-Don't worry, Hlao-roo, we'll find a way out of this somehow, said Hazel.

Several hours later, the airplane finally landed and the hold was opened. The rabbits were about to run out of it when suddenly, a large and very loud machine approached the opening. It had been decided a few months before that the offloading of luggage from every airplane that passed through the airport would be done entirely by machines without human supervision, in order to save money.

The rabbits were scared by this unusual and potentially dangerous machine. They hid as deep in the hold as they could, but the machine soon picked up the bags they were sitting on.

-Of all the ways I thought we could leave that flying hrududu, I never expected this one, confessed Blackberry. I don't know exactly where we're going, but from what I'm seeing, it doesn't look good. Look behind you.

The rabbits turned and saw with horror what awaited them. The machine had entered a building and was going to dump all the luggage onto a conveyor belt. They contemplated the possibility of jumping off, but only Pipkin managed to do so in time. The other rabbits were brutally pushed onto the belt immediately afterwards.

Pipkin looked at the events from a distance. He was determined to stop the belt, but he had no idea how to do that. He wandered around the building before finding a wire on the floor. He considered chewing it, but remembered what had happened to Blackberry earlier in their journey. Then, he saw a razor that had fallen out of one of the bags he had helped tear apart in the airplane. He though that it would be the perfect way to destroy the wire, so he picked it up in his mouth and began pushing the wire with it.

Meanwhile on the belts, Blackberry had been separated from the others luggage sorting mechanisms. However, the belt where the three others were led to a series of rollers that would break their paws. At the last moment, they jump off the belt; the fall lasted several seconds before they landed on another belt, inside an open bag full of clothing. While Bigwig and Hyzenthlay were relatively unharmed, Hazel landed on his injured leg, causing intense pain.

They then realized that they were in no better situation. The belt they were on led to a sorting machine that handled the bags so violently that it would kill the rabbits if they touched it. On both sides, there was nowhere else to jump to without falling from a deadly height.

-We must try to stop these machines, shouted Blackberry. Tear it up, put small objects into corners and moving parts, anything to stop it!

The rabbits got to work. Pipkin had finished destroying the wire using the razor and had moved on to another, much larger one. Blackberry was throwing the contents of a bag everywhere. Hazel, Bigwig and Hyzenthlay tried to rip the belt apart. Hyzenthlay, having more experience in digging, did somewhat better than the two bucks.

Just at the last moment, the machines stopped. Pipkin had cut a critical wire and Blackberry had jammed some gears with a pair of socks. The rips had grown and the belt had split in two at one point. Loud alarms began to blare to notify workers that the system had gone into emergency shutdown.

-I'm afraid that humans are going to come here to see what happened, said Blackberry.

-Then let's get out of here before the humans come, decided Hazel.

The rabbits then retraced their paths along the belts until they came to a staircase used for maintenance. Hazel had a lot of difficulty descending due to his leg and almost fell a few times. Once on the floor, they were joined by Pipkin and they began their search for the exit. After several minutes, they finally found a door that had been left open by an employee. They ran through the building, desperately searching for a place where they couldn't hear the siren. They finally found such a place in the soundproof office of the airport manager. After they got inside through the open door, they discovered that things weren't much quieter there...

* * *

The airport manager had just received a complete report on the damage in the luggage sorting facility. The wires could be replaced easily, but the conveyor belts were another matter. There were many holes in them and one of the belts was completely torn apart and would need to be replaced. But that was not the biggest problem. Somehow, several pieces of luggage were destroyed in the process, and now one traveller was threatening to sue the airport.

The manager was convinced that the offloading system was responsible for the damage to the bags. He was the one who had insisted that it be fully deployed for every flight that passed through the airport despite the fact it had not been thoroughly tested. If the case was taken to court, the odds are that the airport would lose the case, so he had to do everything he could to prevent a lawsuit. He gave his usual speech:

-Our top concern is the satisfaction of all travellers who visit the airport, Mr Plunkett. We will analyze your request and we will do everything we can to...

-I don't want my request to be analyzed! shouted the traveller. I want a refund for my bag and its contents! Most of my papers were torn to pieces and do you seriously expect me to use my toothbrush after it fell in that puddle of grease?

-In that case, we will pay the cost associated with replacing the bag and the toothbrush. You are only here on your way to another destination, right?

-Yeah, I'm going to Sydney, what's that got to do with it?

-We will also cover all costs associated with bringing your pets to Sydney.

Mr Plunkett thought for a few seconds. He did not understand exactly what the manager had told him, but apparently he would get something for free. He found this very appealing.

-I accept your offer.

-Very good. Just sign this contract, agreeing not to sue the airport in exchange for what I have mentioned, said the manager, with a pen and a piece of paper in his hand.

Mr Plunkett hurriedly signed the document without reading it. Then, he realized that one thing made no sense:

-What pets?

-Why, the rabbits under your chair right now.

-Rabbits?

He bent down to look under his chair, and saw Bigwig growling at him. He had a vague feeling he had seen this rabbit before, but quickly dismissed it as “all rabbits look alike”. It then dawned on him this free passage for the rabbits was entirely useless to him.

-These are not my rabbits and I will not accept a free passage for them!

-I'm sorry, sir, but you signed this contract. You agreed to take them with you and not to sue this airport. If you choose not to comply, you can be sued for breach of contract.

-All right, I'll comply, but only because if I kept arguing with you I would miss my plane. But you will have to provide me with pet carriers! I don't have any.

-I'm sure that can be arranged. We keep several carriers at the airport for such situations.

The manager sent his secretary to get the carriers. She had put a carrot inside each one, and the rabbits bolted inside without thinking, as the last thing they had eaten was paper. Just as Mr Plunkett was about to board his airplane, the manager handed him five carriers and a piece of paper:

-Well, here are your rabbits, Mr Plunkett, and here is a cheque to cover the cost of replacing the bag. Goodbye! Have a nice trip! And you too, rabbits!


	16. A New Life and a New Warren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mentions a few characters from Tales from Watership Down. Quiens is a random doe who originally lived in Efrafa before moving to the Down, and this seems to be her first appearance in any fanfic. Stonecrop is a buck who spent most of his life in a hutch before escaping, and ended up living at Vleflain.

 

[...] it’s the girl that’s sitting next to you, or the girl that’s sitting across from you, that’s going to get you through everything.

\--Goldie Hawn

A few days after the trial, a group of rabbits from Watership Down went back to Cowslip's warren to find the survivors and bring them to the Down. Silver, whom Bluebell had appointed Chief Rabbit after the failed patrol, had never seen such pitiful rabbits before. Most of them were half-tharn, and panicked at the softest sound. The trip back to the Down took much longer than expected, as none of these rabbits had ever travelled far from the warren and were already exhausted to begin with.

The new rabbits did their best to adjust to their new lives, but it would be a long process, as they lacked any experience in natural living. To make matters worse, the warren was horribly overcrowded due to the new arrivals. After about a week, Hickory and Marigold discussed with Silver the possibility of establishing a new warren, and everyone agreed that this would be a good idea.

Later that day, Silver, Quiens, Blackavar and Hickory went to search for the perfect location for the new warren. Marigold wanted to accompany them, but Hickory insisted that she stay at the Down, claiming that it would be too dangerous for her as she had no experience in travelling long distances. When she pointed out that neither did he, he replied angrily that if she was not satisfied with his decision, she could always choose a new mate.

Marigold retreated to one of the deepest burrows of the warren and remained there for a while, staring at the wall in front of her, until she smelled another rabbit enter the burrow. It was Clover. She went close to Marigold, who did not turn. It was Clover who spoke first.

-You weren't at silflay today. Are you all right?

-I just didn't feel like it, that's all.

-You don't have to worry. There are no snares here.

-That's the problem. I'm beginning to wonder whether it was a good idea to leave the warren of the shining wires in the first place. The humans fed us, and if we were careful and looked where we were going, we could avoid the wires. Here, we have all this freedom. Is this right? Is this the way rabbits are meant to live?

-You know, Marigold, you sound a lot like me when I first left the hutch, back at the farm. There wasn't anything interesting there, behind the wire. We could spend days without the sight of Frith. We ate when the humans bothered to feed us. It was a really boring life, but we were safe. Mostly safe. I remember two winters ago. There was a snowstorm and it was colder than any other day I can remember. All the food had been eaten and the water in our bowl had frozen entirely. One of us stopped running.

With that, Clover fell silent. She remembered the great sadness that followed, and how it took several days for the farmer to notice the body and dispose of it. She did not tell Marigold all the details surrounding that part of the story, to avoid depressing her even more. A rabbit's life is short, so they must focus on the present instead of the past, no matter what hardships they may have endured.

Both rabbits remained silent for what felt like a long time, until Marigold said:

-That reminds me of a terrible day, early last summer. I was searching for my sister, Nildro-hain was her name. I couldn't find her anywhere. Generally, when someone was missing, it could only mean one thing: the wires. But I refused to believe it, until I found her lifeless body in a wire on the far side of the warren. I hid in the tall plants and saw the human take her away. I heard him laugh as he picked her up. I can't remember anything afterwards. I guess someone else carried me back to the warren. But my memory is completely blank.

With that she collapsed to the ground and put her head between her front paws. Clover moved closer.

-And that's why you left. So you can start a new life, free from the constant threat of the wires.

-But Clover, if we had left earlier, Nildro-hain and who knows how many others, might still be alive today.

-Think about this, Marigold. Would your sister have wanted you to be like this? What is, is what must be. You are out of that terrible warren and so are all the others. You are free to start a new life.

-But are we ready to start this new life? There were hardly any elil in the old warren. The human shot them all. We never even smelled most of them. We never had to run away from them. We never did any serious digging, either. We know nothing about the life of rabbits. We are completely helpless. We have no future, we might as well have surrendered to the wire.

-I wasn't any better off when I first left the such. In the farm, the smells were very strong, but I never saw where they came from, making them absolutely meaningless. The only time I actually left the hutch was when the human kitten took us out into the grass, but even then, I never went very far. I knew about the elil, but the only one I had ever smelled was the pfeffa. Pfeffil are only a danger on farms, and I've never been to one since I first left the hutch.

Marigold turned and looked at Clover.

-How is that possible? You've been living here for over a year and you haven't fallen victim to the elil.

-I heard many stories about rabbits who are turned lose by humans. Most of them are taken by the elil. But the humans left them to fend for themselves. I chose to leave. After the hutch was opened, I could have chosen to remain there, but I didn't. Getting used to this new life was very hard. Even now, I don't silflay far from the hole or run as fast as the others, who have spent their entire lives living in a warren. But I managed to survive this far.

-Why are you telling me all this?

-Don't you see, Marigold, you have already been through the hardest part of the process: making the decision to start a new life. The rest is going to be a long process, but the hardest part is behind you. Think about this: digging a new warren, organizing everything and helping the others. You will finally live as Frith meant you to live!

It finally dawned on Marigold that her new life was beginning, free from the threat of the wires. Free from traumatic memories of seeing others stop running. Free from everything that did not matter anymore. Free to begin her new life and take control of it without being tormented by fears, memories or other rabbits.

-Clover, you have been very helpful to me. I can't even begin to thank you.

-You don't have to. I'm always glad to help another rabbit who feels unsure about their worth.

They stayed together in the burrow for the rest of the afternoon. Fu Inlé, they were woken up by loud noises silf and they went to investigate. The group which had been sent out to find a suitable location for the new warren was back, but in dreadful shape. Silver was bleeding from several scratches on his side. Blackavar was very weak and badly wounded. Hickory, while physically unharmed, was completely tharn. Quiens was alert but visibly exhausted. Nearly every rabbit in the warren was tending to them.

-We stopped at Vleflain to pick up a few of their wide-patrollers, and with their help we found the perfect location for the warren, explained Quiens once everyone was settled in the Honeycomb. But on the way back, we were so excited that we stopped for a game of bobstones. Unfortunately, a homba arrived, and Stonecrop, who was the sentry, stamped to warn us, but by the time we heard him, it was too late, he had already been attacked.

-But I would have thought that his strong scent of humans would have scared the homba away, interjected Hawkbit.

-Maybe, but after a few months in the warren he hardly smelled of humans anymore. Having never smelled a homba before, he only realized its presence upon seeing it. While we managed to kill it, it still managed to hurt us all, as you see.

-I really should have been the sentry myself, said Silver. It was my responsibility as Chief Rabbit.

-There's no use blaming yourself, said Quiens. What is done is done. We're lucky not to have lost any rabbits, but we must take measures to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Blackavar remained in a far corner of the Honeycomb for most of the night as the other rabbits took turns cleaning his wounds. Hickory went to the burrow he shared with Marigold and a few others and tried to go to sleep, but with little success. He would have liked to help kill the homba, but by the time he understood what was happening, the others had already sprung into action and defeated it without his help. He had failed in his first mission of importance. It took Marigold all night to convince him that he would not be branded a coward by the others.


	17. The Two Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters of Buttercup, Aspen, Bluesky and Raincloud come from the series.

A man lives by believing something; not by debating and arguing about many things.

\--Thomas Carlyle, _The Hero as Man of Letters_

Fiver and Vilthuril were still together when the airplane landed several hours later in Australia. They were unpleasantly woken up as the hold was opened and workers began to empty it. It was late in the evening and the employees wanted too finish their job as fast as possible so they could go home. Unfortunately for them, one suitcase was thrown so violently it broke open. While they were arguing over who would clean up the mess, the two rabbits sneaked out of the luggage hold and went to the grass near the runway, which, luckily for them, was pesticide-free. Suddenly, Vilthuril stamped.

Further away in the field, there were two other rabbits. One was rather skinny, while the other was visibly overweight. They did not seem at all bothered or surprised to see two others of their kind nearby and continued their silflay, completely ignoring their presence.

Fiver and Vilthuril slowly approached the two others. At that moment, the smaller of the two strangers spoke:

-You're not from here, are you? You smell weird.

-We come from a warren far far away, explained Fiver. It's called Watership Down.

-Watership Down? Never heard of it. Must be very far away.

-Fiver, are you sure it's a good idea to tell them all this? whispered Vilthuril in her mate's ear.

-We crossed the Big Water to get here, Vilthuril my dear. Then we crossed another Big Water. Even if they know all about our warren, there's no way they could ever pose a threat to us.

-Crossed the Big Water, huh? repeated the bigger one. That's very interesting. I take it your names are Fiver and Vilthuril. My name is Raincloud, and this is Bluesky. Our warren is also far away, but from what I hear, not as far as yours.

-This silflay has lasted long enough, said Bluesky. Embleer flying hrududil! They smell so strongly and make so much noise. Let's go home.

-Oh, come on, I'm still hungry.

-Raincloud, you have to stop eating that much. We're leaving. Would you two care to join us?

-We might as well, decided Fiver. There is no other place for us to go.

-Very good! Follow us, we will show you the way.

The four rabbits travelled across the runway and a certain distance through the airport, until they reached a nearby metro station.

-You don't have to worry, reassured Raincloud, seeing Fiver and Vilthuril hesitate. It's perfectly safe. I know there are many humans, but they take no notice of us. We've been travelling through this place for several months and we haven't been hurt.

The rabbits went through the revolving doors and travelled through the building. They eventually came to a staircase, which they descended. The rabbits sat next to the tracks waiting for a train to arrive.

-You just wait for them, explained Bluesky. They come eventually, and when they arrive, there will be an opening. We go inside, and they take us where we want. Ah, here is one now.

Fiver and Vilthuril were shocked to see the hrududu travelling so fast on the iron road and stopping so suddenly, but nevertheless followed the two strangers inside. Shortly afterwards, the doors closed again and the train started to move again.

It was an unusual experience to Fiver and Vilthuril, as they had never been so close to so many humans. The puzzled stares from some of them did not help.

-Hey Aspen! said Bluesky. You finally decided to ride the hrududil!

Another rabbit, presumably Aspen, came out from under a seat.

-Hearing you talk about your rides made me want to try it. I never thought that the outside world could be so fascinating. I see you brought some newcomers with you, too.

At that point, the train stopped and the doors opened. Vilthuril was getting ready to jump out, but Raincloud stopped her.

-It's not time to get out yet.

-But at the speed we've travelled, surely your warren must be near? It can't be that far, can it?

-It isn't really. I've heard of rabbits travelling far longer distances for a good silflay. Don't worry, we will be able to leave here very soon. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go see the human who brings a carrot for me every day.

-A human gives you carrots?

-Oh sure. She gives me one every day. We've gotten to know each other very well since I've started travelling.

-And hopefully you will leave some for our guests instead of eating the whole thing yourself like you did last week, complained Bluesky.

Fiver and Vilthuril looked at each other worriedly.

-These rabbits not only travel near humans but also accept food from them! realized Fiver. They don't steal it, they eat it straight out of human paws, just like the rabbits of Cowslip's warren. While I don't feel anything wrong with these two, that doesn't make them safe. The sooner we leave, the better.

As he said that, the train stopped again and its doors opened.

-Well, here is where we leave, said Bluesky. You coming with us, Aspen?

-No thanks. I will ride this hrududu to the next stop, to see what is there.

-Very well. You two, are you coming?

Fiver and Vilthuril hurriedly jumped out of the train and followed the other two up another set of stairs. Once they were outside the building, Raincloud started to smell the sidewalk, until he came to a small crack between two tiles.

-Bluesky, here is the one. Will you remove it? My muscles are sore after all this walking.

-How do you expect to lose weight if you never exercise?

-I'm tired. Will you do this one last time, please?

-One last time, one last time. I've been doing this one last time for over a month.

Bluesky pulled the tile Raincloud had indicated out of its cavity. Underneath was a dark tunnel.

-This is your warren? asked Fiver.

-Of course not. This tunnel leads to the warren, however. We dug it because it's so much faster than making the whole trip above ground. Will you follow us?

-I don't feel anything wrong with the tunnel, Vilthuril my dear. It's what on the other side that bothers me, but I guess we'll have to face it when we get there.

One at a time, the rabbits entered the tunnel. They walked a long distance and there was still no sight of the exit, when suddenly...

-Raincloud, you idiot, you got stuck again!

-I didn't remember this passage being so narrow. I guess you'll have to dig me out. Just today, all right?

-I've had more than enough. This is the last time I dig you out. I will go to silflay alone tomorrow.

After a long while, the tunnel had been enlarged enough for Raincloud to be able to keep going. When the rabbits finally reached the other end, they were far from the city. The only building nearby was a large mansion, but it was clearly abandoned. Next to it, there was an overgrown hedge maze.

-Our warren is in the middle of this maze. Be careful not to get lost, warned Bluesky.

-What's a maze? asked Vilthuril.

-A place where it's easy to get lost. Don't worry, I know the way, boasted Raincloud.

The four rabbits entered the maze and followed the path for a few minutes before reaching a crossing.

-And now, we go right, said Raincloud.

-Oh you idiot, complained Bluesky, can you ever do anything right? We go left.

-You have insulted my body many times, but you shall not question my mind. The warren is to the right.

-I will insult your mind each time it is wrong. Left.

-RIGHT!

-It's right, whispered Fiver to his mate. Let's get out of here.

The couple went to the right and shortly afterwards reached the warren. It was the largest warren they had ever seen, even larger than Efrafa. They went underground and after searching for a long time, they found a dry burrow and fell asleep.

Late the next morning, they were woken up by a young doe.

-You want to come fight the hrududu?

The two rabbits looked at each other, not understanding what she was talking about. Fiver was the first to answer:

-Why should we fight a hrududu?

-This one is particularly noisy. It's still far away, but it's been disturbing today's silflay. Hey, I don't seem to remember you. You're not from this warren, are you?

Fiver and Vilthuril had purposely tried to avoid attracting attention when they arrived at the warren, as they did not plan to stay for long. They both wanted to go back to Watership Down but needed some rest.

-No, we're not. We live in the high hills. Bluesky and Raincloud found us during their silflay and brought us here through their tunnel.

-I'm afraid we must have made a poor impression on you, letting you sleep in this dirty old burrow. I guess it's to be expected with those two. Anyway, I'm Buttercup. You are...

-I'm Fiver. This is my mate, Vilthuril.

-It's nice to meet you two. Now let's go fight the noisy hrududu, shall we?

Fiver and Vilthuril were not very anxious to take part in fighting, especially not against a hrududu, but with Buttercup's urging, they reluctantly accepted. They followed her out of the maze and towards the distant road where the hrududu was.


	18. The Crowd

 

Let's go to bite the noisy machines! Then they'll be quiet.

\--Cindy Scheel, _Selected_ _Short Tails_

* * *

The five rabbits spent the entire airplane trip inside their carriers, trying to chew their way out. Mr Plunkett was profoundly annoyed by the noise they made. Therefore, as soon as the plane landed in Sydney, he set them free on the runway. They huddled together next to it, and Hazel spoke.

-We have been on this mission for hrair days, to search for Fiver and Vilthuril, and we still have no idea what happened to them. We must rethink the way we search.

-And what exactly do you suggest? asked Bigwig. We have to admit it, we're lost, and it's all because of Blackberry's crazy idea to ride that hrududu back at the farm.

-Where else could they have gone? argued Blackberry. You smelled it just like me: the scent ended right next to the hrududu tracks. If they had been killed, there would have been blood.

-And what makes you think they were killed? Maybe they were just kidnapped by something we didn't smell...

-Will you two stop arguing? ordered Hyzenthlay. Pipkin is stressed out with all your talk about blood and kidnapping. And besides, Hazel looks like he's found something.

Hazel had moved away from the others and was carefully smelling the grass.

-Fiver's been here. That's his scent. Vilthuril's scent is there too, along with that of two other rabbits, but I don't know who they are. We must follow the scents.

The group wandered through the airport until they reached the same metro station where Fiver and Vilthuril had been earlier that evening, only to find that the scent stopped there: it had been destroyed by that of all the travellers passing through the station.

With no other way to go, they started to walk alongside a nearby road. They continued until shortly after Frith appeared in the sky, when Blackberry suggested that they board a hrududu to go faster. It took him a while to convince the others, especially Bigwig. They soon found a tour bus on the side of the road, with its driver waiting outside for the last few passengers to arrive.

-I'm not sure I want to risk going inside a hrududu again, confided Pipkin. Remember what happened the last time we did, Hazel-rah?

-Hlao-roo, you mustn't worry about that, reassured Hazel. We will all stay away from any open bags, so we should all be safe.

The driver looked at his watch. It was time for the tour to start, so he went back inside the vehicle.

-We must go now, advised Blackberry, or it may leave without us.

The five rabbits jumped inside the hrududu just before the doors closed. Only then did they realize that it was full of humans.

-Blackberry, this is the last time I ever trust you! shouted Bigwig.

-There's no use screaming at him like that, Bigwig, said Hazel. There was no way he could have known about all these humans. Let's hope we can find a place to hide.

Hiding was harder than expected, as most seats had the passengers' luggage underneath. The rabbits eventually had to split up under five separate seats. They tried to sleep, but that proved to be difficult with all the passengers staring at them and several filming them with their smartphones.

Early in the morning, in the middle of nowhere, the bus suddenly stopped.

-I'm sorry for the delay, but there are rabbits blocking the road, explained the driver.

-Can't you just run them over? shouted a random passenger.

-Not really. If you look outside, you will see why.

The passenger looked out the window and saw that over one hundred rabbits were surrounding the bus. Several were simply smelling it, but others were clawing it, hoping this would stop the noisy motor. They slowly scraped off the paint and punctured the tires. This went on for several minutes, until they managed to destabilize the bus, which was now leaning dangerously.

-I'm afraid this tour will have to be cut short, announced the driver. Please don't panic, just get out of the bus before the rabbits have destroyed it entirely...

Despite the driver's urging, most passengers panicked and ran towards the back door, screaming.

-Where are they all going? wondered Pipkin. I've never seen humans so scared before.

-I don't know, replied Bigwig, but I'm going to find out.

As soon as all the humans had run away, the rabbits also went outside and realized what was happening. Despite their best attempts at escaping the crowd, they were unable to make any progress. This became worse after a few rabbits made a hole in the gasoline tank, near the spot where one of the passengers had dropped his cigarette. As a result, the entire bus soon burst into flames. Every rabbit, as soon as they saw what had happened, bolted into a random direction.

Several minutes later, Hazel caught sight of a rabbit in the crowd that looked a lot like Fiver. Before he could get closer, however, this other rabbit had vanished.

-FIVER! he called out. IT'S ME, HAZEL!

Unfortunately, the loud noise made by all the panicked rabbits prevented Fiver from hearing him.

Pipkin was the first rabbit to escape the crowd, thanks to his small size. He then realized that the others were still trapped in the crowd, somewhere. His thoughts were interrupted, however, as a great white bird nearly crashed into him.

-Meester Pipkeen, is dat you?

Pipkin was taken aback by the question. The bird's voice was vaguely familiar. Could it be...

-Kehaar?

-Ya, ees me. Now vat are you doing here?

-I need your help. Hazel and Bigwig are in there...

-O no! Ees trouble! Dat band of rabbeets is veree mad...

-Yes, Kehaar, I will need your help to get them out of there.

-Kehaar do anyfing for meester Pigvig and meester 'azel!

With that, he took off to scan the crowd. Shortly afterwards, he spotted Bigwig's hair. He flew down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

-Meester Pigvig, vat are ya doin on de udder side of de udder peeg vater?

Bigwig went tharn at that. He was fighting his way through the crowd when suddenly, some bird who sounds like Kehaar scoops him up and drops him off some distance away. As soon as he regained his senses, he shouted:

-Kehaar, what are you doing here? Why did you grab me like that? That hurt, you know, and I could have gotten out of there by myself!

But Kehaar had already left to search for Hazel. He soon found him, and dropped him off near Bigwig, Pipkin and Hyzenthlay, the latter having escaped through a tunnel she had dug.

-Ees somevon else, meester Pipkeen?

-Yes, Kehaar, you remember Blackberry?

-O...heem.

Kehaar had never really liked Blackberry, but his sympathy towards these rabbits who were clearly far away from their home won out, and he went back to search for him. He soon found him and dropped him off near the others.

-Dere. Everyvon ees here. Now, vat are ya all doing on de udder side of de udder peeg vater?

-The other big water? said a surprised Pipkin. You mean there's more than one?

-Ya, ya, ees hrair peeg vaters. Dat ting, over dere, is de extreme peeg vater. Tis de peeggest of dem all. Dat is vere I stay when I not vith you at Vatersheep Down.

-Kehaar, you wouldn't have seen Fiver anywhere? asked Hazel.

-Fivr? Ees de von who see tings?

-Yes, that's him.

-Nah, nah, no see heem. But I go look for heem, ya?

With that, he took off on his search for Fiver,

-What is Kehaar doing here? wondered Blackberry.

-I don't know, answered Hazel, but he will probably be very useful to find Fiver and Vilthuril.


	19. The Typhoon

 

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.

\--Thomas Aquinas

* * *

Fiver, Vilthuril and Buttercup walked for a while, before they finally saw the noisy hrududu they were supposed to fight.

-We're late today, realized Buttercup, seeing how almost one hundred rabbits were already attacking it. The noise will probably stop very soon.

It was at that moment that the vehicle caught fire. The three rabbits panicked and bolted in opposite directions. Buttercup was the first to escape the crowd, as she had already found herself in similar situations several times before. Fiver and Vilthuril made it out soon afterwards, although neither noticed the presence of Hazel and the others.

Once the three rabbits were reunited away from the crowd, they started to clean their fur.

-Do you know any place where we could be alone for a while? asked Fiver.

-I know such a place, said Buttercup. It's some distance away, but it will be worth it when we get there.

The three rabbits crossed the road and walked for what felt like a long time, until they finally reached the Big Water. On the shore, there was a small wooden punt filled with flayrah.

-This thing was carried here by the tide last month, explained Buttercup. I've been using it to store flayrah and whenever I've had enough of all the others, I go here to relax alone.

-This looks like the thing we used to escape from Efrafa, observed Vilthuril.

-It's a boat, continued Buttercup. If the tide picks it up, we will be carried away to the Big Water. While the tide has been very close to it, there's probably no danger. Either way, we may want to leave before Frith sets, just in case.

-But where does all the flayrah come from?

-I spent the past few weeks gathering it. You can eat some of it if you wish. Anyway, we can all rest here.

With that, she jumped into the bottom of the boat and lay down. Fiver and Vilthuril had a short silflay before also falling asleep.

* * *

-I see meester Fivr and meess Viltril. Ees udder rabbit vith dem. Dey on poat.

Hazel was listening to Kehaar's report. He had trouble making sense of the gull's distorted speech.

-Can you show us the way?

-Ya, ya. Ees not far.

He led them all the way to the shore. However, when they arrived, there was no sign of the boat.

-O no! Da vaves, dey peek up da poat, carry heem avay. Dey now over dere!

The rabbits looked into the distance. They could see a dark spot that they guessed was the boat Kehaar was talking about.

-But Kehaar, how can we get to them? asked Hazel. They seem so far away.

-You no sveem peeg vater. You take anudder poat. Dis vay.

The rabbits travelled a long distance along the shore before finally reaching the other boat Kehaar had mentioned. It was a large container ship, and the captain had been forced to stop there to pick up a replacement crew member.

-This is a boat? said an amazed Pipkin. I never thought they could be so large!

-Ya, ya. Sum are as peeg as whole citee.

-What's a city?

Kehaar looked at Pipkin, profoundly annoyed. Did these rabbits know anything?

-So, Kehaar, asked Hazel, we have to get on this boat?

-Ya, ya. You all run, I annoy de guard.

The “guard“ was actually the ship's captain. He stared at his watch, then finally decided to take his smartphone and call the problematic crew member. It took him several minutes to remember how to make a phone call, as he rarely used his smartphone for that.

-Hello?

-This is the captain. How long will I have to wait?

-It may take a while, sir. There is a flaming bus blocking the road. Don't worry, the authorities have been notified, I should reach the ship within two hours.

-Two hours! I'm not waiting that long. I'm leaving right now! Goodbye!

At that moment, Kehaar landed on him. While trying to escape the angry seagull, he dropped his smartphone in the water. As soon as Kehaar had flown away, he picked it up and realized that he was unable to turn it on. He would have to get a new one, and that would be impossible until the ship reached its next destination. He was extremely angry and stormed back onto his ship. He hurriedly performed last minute safety checks and the ship departed.

Several hours later, the captain was reviewing the maps prepared by his second officer. Suddenly, he pointed at a small section of one of them.

-Hey, why are we taking this detour?

-There is a typhoon that is scheduled to go over this area, answered the officer, so we must take a detour to avoid it.

-A typhoon? Why does nobody ever notify me of such things?

-Look out the window and see for yourself.

The captain got up and saw that the edge of the sky was turning from blue into grey due to an unusually large cloud formation.

-All right, there is a typhoon. So what? This ship has already been through several of them. And besides, the delay would cost tens of thousands of dollars. No, we will go straight through the storm. Correct the course on the maps.

The second officer complied with the captain's order. She was sure it was a bad idea to go through the typhoon, but she knew that it was also a bad idea to contradict the captain, especially when he was angry.

* * *

Fiver, Vilthuril and Buttercup had been sleeping for several hours when Vilthuril woke up. It was fu Inlé and she decided to silflay. However, when she got off the boat, she realized that it was surrounded with water. She climbed back on board and shook the water out of her fur.

-What's happening? moaned Fiver as he was suddenly woken up. Is it raining?

-Fiver, there is water everywhere!

Half-asleep, Fiver looked around the boat.

-That must be the tide Buttercup talked about. Don't worry, this flayrah should be able to sustain us until the water carries us back. Now what is that thing on the horizon?

He kept staring at the slowly rotating typhoon.

-I sense something strange inside. Something terrible.

He remained immobile for a few seconds, then a vision began:

-Darkhaven is about to be destroyed, a wave, a dangerous machine, an evil owsla, only one can save this rabbit before it all gets flooded!

As the vision ended, he collapsed in the pile of flayrah. His mate nuzzled him.

-We're not in danger. But that big boat over there near the storm, it is in great danger. And so are the rabbits beyond the storm.

* * *

Meanwhile, the container ship was getting closer and closer to the typhoon. The captain had gone to bed for the night, leaving the chief engineer in charge. He was desperately trying to steer the ship away from the storm, but it was already too late, it was heading straight towards the eye.

Outside, on the deck, Hazel was speaking with Kehaar.

-How do you know this boat will bring us closer to the one where Fiver and Vilthuril are? I can't see it anymore.

-Maybee I go look to see vere dey are, ya?

-Yes, that would be very useful.

With that, he took off to search the area for the punt.

-Hazel, this storm worries me, warned Blackberry. I've never seen one so big, and this boat keeps getting closer to it.

-Let's wait for Kehaar to come back before we do anything, decided Hazel.

At that moment, a large wave crashed onto the ship. Within a few minutes, the storm had intensified, the ship was rocking violently and several containers were falling overboard. The rabbits went to search for a place where they could be safe. Waves swept the deck, towers of containers collapsed, the rabbits got separated from each other.

Bigwig was suffering from seasickness and soon collapsed on an overturned container. Blackberry jumped on the lifting hook of the ship's crane, only to find that it was moving everywhere and that it was possibly going to collide with something else. Hazel jumped into a lifeboat, but the cables holding it, rusting from improper maintenance, threatened to break at any moment. Hyzenthlay was running everywhere on the deck, trying desperately to outrun the waves.

After what felt like forever, the ship finally entered the typhoon's eye, where the weather was relatively calm. Pipkin, who had hidden inside the ship's control room, went to look for the others, and realized that one of them was missing.


	20. Shadow of Darkhaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters of Spartina, Granite, Shale and Feldspar come from the series.

By the time you return home, enough time may have passed that the Sun has changed stage, but you, human civilization, must have changed stage. [...] And my hope is that, through all of this, you've retained the drive you were born with.

\--Sam Hughes, _[To Destroy The Earth](http://qntm.org/destro)_

* * *

Kehaar had successfully located the punt where Fiver, Vilthuril and Buttercup were. As he flew back to tell the others, however, he was unable to find the ship. It had vanished in the typhoon.

-O no! Da stoopid strom, 'e take dat poat vere dey all ar! I tell dem vat I see ven dey get out on de udder sid, ya? Ders no vay I fly in DAT ting!

* * *

When Hyzenthlay regained consciousness, she realized that she was completely wet. She tried to shake the water out of her fur, but it would take a while for it to dry entirely. She noticed that she was no longer on the hard metal deck of the ship, but in some wet sandy substance. The were a few plants further away, but she had never smelled any of them before. While the weather was rather calm, there were extremely large clouds in all directions.

Only then did she remember what had happened: she had been carried overboard by a wave and, after several minutes in the water, she ended up on the shores of a nearby island. She could still see the ship on the Big Water, but it would be impossible for her to swim back without drowning. She therefore decided to search the island for another boat she could use.

After travelling a short distance, she came upon a large metal structure. It had been built to process the large amounts of trash that was carried to the island's shores by ocean currents. While the island had been evacuated prior to the typhoon, the machinery had been left behind, and was still functioning.

At that moment, she noticed the presence of several rabbits, sitting on various objects around the structure. Their ancestors had been set free on the island by European explorers in the 17th century to serve as a food supply to future visitors.

There seemed to be a meeting of some sort going on. Hyzenthlay hid behind a rock and listened to the rabbits' conversation.

-Oh Black Rabbit of Inlé, said a large pale rabbit standing on a large rock at the edge of the group, we know that you are angry at us and want to take us all with you! We know you have sent a storm to cause our destruction!

-For the last time, interjected a doe in the centre of the group, that storm has nothing to do with the Black Rabbit. Don't you remember how we get these at least once a year? If He wanted to destroy us, He would have done so many storms ago.

-Shut up, ordered a nearby buck as he cuffed her in the ears. You cannot interrupt Granite-rah until he has finished talking!

-Shale you idiot, shouted the pale rabbit, stop cuffing her, I haven't finished my speech yet! Now where was I...oh yes, we offer you this sacrifice, this young doe, by the name of Spartina, in exchange for the prolonged glory of Darkhaven! Let us now reflect on our glorious history!

“Making a sacrifice to the Black Rabbit!” thought Hyzenthlay. “Even General Woundwort wouldn't do something so low! I've got to save her before it's too late.”

A quick examination of the area showed that Darkhaven was guarded as closely as Efrafa, so there was no way she could sneak in. She therefore began to dig a tunnel as fast as she could, but tried to remain silent to avoid attracting the attention of the guards.

* * *

Meanwhile on the ship, the four remaining rabbits were still searching for Hyzenthlay. None of them had seen her get washed overboard, and all scents had been washed away by the waves.

-She can't vanish just like that! said Hazel, perplexed. She's got to be somewhere.

-We've searched this entire place, Hazel, reminded Bigwig. She's clearly not here.

-I know a place we haven't searched, remembered Pipkin. I'll show you.

The place Pipkin was talking about was the ship's control room. He led the others there, where they continued to search.

* * *

-...and they kept wandering and wandering, all around the waters, and each time they came upon land they...

While Granite was annoying all the Darkhaveners by telling them a nonsensical story, Hyzenthlay kept digging. She soon finished her tunnel and broke through the ground. As she looked around her, she found, much to her relief, that the tunnel ended in the centre of the warren, close to Spartina, and that none of the guards had noticed her. Spartina, however, turned and looked at her in surprise, but remained silent.

-My name is Hyzenthlay. I've come to help you escape.

-Escape from Darkhaven? That's impossible. Say, you're not from here, are you?

-I come from the high hills, but this is no time to discuss this. If you want to escape, now's your chance.

-Look, it's impossible to escape from Darkhaven. Just hurry up and leave this place before someone notices you.

-I'll create a diversion. When it happens, just bolt.

-How many times do I have to remind you, shouted another guard, no talking!

-Feldspar, how can I finish my speech if everyone keeps interrupting? said an annoyed Granite. At this rate, we will never be able to finish everything before Inlé-rah's storm comes back. Now where was I? Oh yes, the humans came back, but they weren't the same humans, instead they were...

Hyzenthlay went back underground to extend the tunnel. She was digging towards the place where Granite was standing, guided by his constant shouting.

-...and brave Hemlock guided the survivors through this terrible period, until suddenly a landslide...

At that moment, the ground underneath him collapsed into Hyzenthlay's tunnel. Before he would realize what was happening, she had hit him on the head, knocking him unconscious. She backed away, horrified. This was the first time in her life she had been forced to fight another rabbit and it felt terrible. She reasoned that it was the only way to distract the Darkhaven owsla long enough to escape with Spartina, but she would have preferred to avoid hurting someone else if she could have avoided it.

Meanwhile, the Darkhaveners slowly approached the hole where Granite had vanished. They had no idea what kind of creature could have defeated the strongest rabbit in the warren so easily, but it would probably pose a threat to the rest of them. While they were thinking about the great danger they were in, Hyzenthlay ran back to her other hole to escape with Spartina, who had been left unguarded.

As Hyzenthlay stood in front of her, she could finally size her up. Spartina was a big, muscular doe, almost as large as General Woundwort. Her face was unusually long and pointed. The edge of one of her ears was torn, and there was a feather inside.

-Are you all right...Spartina?

-I'm all right, but we don't have long to escape. I know a secret tunnel, maybe we can try that.

The two rabbits ran into a hole in a pile of rubbish and came to a large underground chamber. At the end of the chamber, there was a large rock hiding the passage Spartina had mentioned. She pushed it away, revealing an open pit. A spiral platform went along the walls, leading to the exit.

* * *

 

The four bucks were exploring the control room. At the moment, there were no humans there, as the chief officer had gone to wake the captain up to notify him of the damage the ship had sustained.

Pipkin was amazed by all the colourful buttons and bright lights on the control panel. Out of curiosity, he pressed one of them, activating a loud alarm. The other three rabbits startled and stamped, until Blackberry approached him.

-What have you done to start this noise?

-I don't know, I just pressed this button here.

-Press it again.

Pipkin obeyed, but nothing happened.

-Try another button, suggested Blackberry, anything, just stop this noise!

With that, all four rabbits started to randomly press buttons all across the control panel.


	21. Challenge to Darkhaven

 

A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.

\--Eleanor Roosevelt

* * *

Buttercup, Fiver and Vilthuril had been on the punt for several days. The currents, instead of taking them back to Australia, took them even further away from the continent. They survived by eating the flayrah that Buttercup had gathered, but by that point there wasn't a lot of it left. The air kept getting colder as time went on.

-Do you think we will ever see land again, Fiver? asked Vilthuril.

-I wish I knew. Unfortunately my visions don't work that way.

-Hey I think I see something, came the voice of Buttercup from the other side of the punt.

The other two rabbits looked in the distance. Far on the horizon, they could see land. It was still some distance away, but the waves should carry them there in a few hours.

* * *

Granite came to as he heard the faint siren from the ship and immediately resumed his speech:

-...and the humans built the large Tower of Darkhaven, and its large...

-Hey, Spartina is gone! shouted Feldspar.

-After her! ordered Shale. We haven't much time, the Black Rabbit is getting closer!

All the rabbits began to search for her smell to find out where she had gone, except Granite. He stared at the sky, where the eyewall of the storm was visible in all directions. He briefly wondered whether this whole ceremony was going to stop the storm, but quickly dismissed these thoughts and followed the others.

The Darkhaven owsla had a lot of experience in finding other rabbits. Many times before they had tracked down and killed escapees. It didn't take them very long to find the secret tunnel. As they got out on the other side, they found the two does high on the path.

-There's a stranger with her!

-KILL THEM BOTH!

-It almost worked out, Hyzenthlay. You did all you can...

-We're not surrendering. Keep going!

Both does kept running until they finally reached the top of the spiral, only to see that the path ended there, with no other obvious way down.

-You might as well face it, Spartina and you random rabbit, whoever you are, there is no way out of this situation! taunted Shale, who was standing on a nearby platform. I just destroyed the bridge, and the owsla is right behind you! Surrender now, and we won't torture you before we kill you!

-Is there another secret passage out of here? asked Hyzenthlay.

-There is a small path, but it's very dangerous. It's just in front of us.

Hyzenthlay cautiously looked down. The path was extremely steep dirt slide going through most of the warren. There were several sharp curves, and no borders. Nevertheless, both rabbits jumped onto the slide and vanished, with the owsla watching them in shock.

* * *

The four bucks were still randomly pressing buttons, trying to turn off the alarm, but made no progress. When the captain finally arrived, accompanied by his first and second officers, they hid under a table. The captain quickly stopped the alarm, and went to examine the damage.

While the captain was standing motionless and silent in front of the scene of the disaster, the four rabbits sneaked out of the room and went back to the deck.

-It's great not to have to hear this noise anymore, sighed Bigwig. It was giving me a headache.

-At least we know Hyzenthlay isn't there, said Hazel. Pipkin, do you know any other place where she could be?

-I saw a small passage, remembered Pipkin, but I don't know where it leads. I'll show you.

The passage Pipkin was talking about was a staircase that led to the crew's quarters below deck. The four rabbits stared at the stairs for several seconds before finally deciding to go down.

-You know, Hazel, confided Bigwig, isn't this whole thing crazy? We were originally supposed to search for Fiver and Vilthuril, and now we're searching for Hyzenthlay.

* * *

Hyzenthlay and Spartina had been sliding for several seconds. It was a very unpleasant experience, as the slide was extremely muddy due to the typhoon. Suddenly, part of the slide collapsed under them.

The two does landed on part of what Granite had called the “Tower of Darkhaven”. It was a large machine with a conveyor belt that led to the top of the tower. A large roller, at the top of the tower, was able to crush any object on the belt. Unfortunately for the rabbits, the machine was functioning, and they were slowly being carried closer to the dangerous roller.

At that moment, Granite, Shale Feldspar and several other members of the owsla jumped on the belt in front of the two does.

-I'm sorry this has to end this way, Spartina, said Granite. You will either be torn to pieces by the roller up there or we will kill you here. And you, stranger, just why do you interfere with our affairs? Where do you come from anyway?

-This whole structure, whispered Spartina, was severely damaged by the storm. We can probably cause it to collapse if we stamp hard enough.

-Let's try it, then, said Hyzenthlay.

-Look, stranger, continued Granite, I am Chief Rabbit of this place. According to ancient Darkhaven law, any rabbit who defeats me in single combat automatically earns my place. Do you want to try it?

-I'm already Chief Rabbit of my home warren. I don't want to be Chief Rabbit of Darkhaven!

-A doe as Chief Rabbit? whispered Shale to Feldspar. She must be crazy.

Spartina kept stamping as strongly as she could, with Hyzenthlay helping her. The structure kept vibrating dangerously, until a critical support beam broke in two, causing the entire structure to collapse.

Granite and the owsla landed painfully on a rock. The last thing they saw was the roller fall off its support platform straight towards them.


	22. Escape from Darkhaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The character of the Speaker of the Past comes from the series.

Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.

\--Hermann Hesse

 

* * *

 

The Speaker of the Past was calmly napping in her burrow, having not reacted at the dreadful noise caused by the collapse of the Tower of Darkhaven. She was interrupted by Granite and the few other survivors as they entered her burrow and bowed.

-Oh Speaker of the Past, guardian of the history of...they began to chant.

-Shut up, will you? I'm trying to take a nap.

The Speaker was one of the few physically weak rabbits in Darkhaven to have reached adulthood, as most of them were killed when they were still kittens. For some reason she never really understood, the Darkhaveners had given her the task of preserving the warren's “glorious” history and passing it on to the next generation. They also frequently went to see her for advice on various matters, most of them absolutely unimportant. She had a habit of ignoring them for a few minutes whenever they came. If they were still there when she finished her nap, then things must have gone terribly wrong.

-All right, what is it this time? she said, annoyed.

-Oh Speaker, Spartina has escaped...

-Good for her.

-...and over half the owsla was killed trying to catch her!

-You should have just left her alone.

-But Speaker, what shall we do now? The Black Rabbit keeps getting closer, and there is no one else we can sacrifice to Inlé-rah!

-Inlé-rah cannot be cheated, He cannot be tricked. When He calls your name, you must go with Him.

* * *

Several minutes after the collapse of the structure, Spartina regained consciousness. She was unharmed, apart from a few minor scratches, as she had learned a safe way to fall as part of her owsla training. She removed sand from her feather, and nudged Hyzenthlay, who slowly got up.

-The others are all gone, said Spartina. We are the first rabbits ever to successfully escape from Darkhaven.

-We...made it?

-Yes! Thank you so much. I wouldn't have been able to escape without your help. But where is your warren? There aren't any others on this island.

-My warren is on the high hills, on the other side of the Big Water.

-That sounds very far away. How did you ever end up here?

-It's a long story. I went on a mission with a few others to search for two other rabbits, we were on a boat, and the storm swept me here, I guess.

-That must have been an exciting adventure. But where is this boat? We will have to use it to leave this island before the storm floods it entirely.

-We can't really reach this boat without using another, smaller boat. I was searching for one when I stopped to help you escape.

-Let's continue to search then.

With that, the two does started to walk along the shore. Suddenly, Spartina stopped to smell a small black plastic object on the shore.

-What is it? wondered Hyzenthlay.

-I don't know. I'll probably keep it as a memory of this warren.

With that, she picked it up and they both continued their search. Soon afterwards, they found the perfect boat: a small wooden platform that was part of the Tower of Darkhaven. They both pushed it away from the shore, before finally jumping on it. The typhoon was moving over the island, and the waves slowly pushed them toward the container ship. When they reached it, however, they saw that there was no way up to the deck, as the emergency ladder had fallen off during the storm.

* * *

The second officer was inspecting the ship's hull for damage. Suddenly, she spotted a small wooden board in the water, and there seemed to something moving on it. That could only mean one thing.

-Man overboard! she called out.

-Where? Where? asked the captain, who had rushed to the scene.

-Over there!

-I don't see anything.

-Well I do. You go and control the crane, I'll give you instructions.

The captain remained motionless, shocked that his second officer was giving him, the captain, orders.

-What are you waiting for? Do you want them to drown?

This brought the captain back to his senses. He ran to the control room to operate the crane.

Meanwhile in the water, the waves kept getting stronger. The two rabbits had fallen off the boat. Spartina was completely tharn and Hyzenthlay was trying to prevent her from drowning.

-Drop that object, it's making you sink! ordered Hyzenthlay.

-Never! It's the only thing I have left from my home warren!

-Sometimes it's better to let go! Darkhaven is a terrible place, you don't want to remember that!

-I spent my whole life there, it's not that easy to let go!

While the two does were arguing, the crane's lifting hook slowly descended until it was in the water next to them. They both instinctively grabbed it with their front paws.

On the deck, the second officer signalled to the captain to raise the hook. The two rabbits were soon out of the water, but hanging dangerously over the deck. They squirmed, desperately trying to get their hind legs back on solid ground. Luckily for them, the hook was soon lowered and they were safe on the ship.

-Is he all right? inquired the captain, running out of the control room. Who is it, anyway?

-Two rabbits, answered the second officer. Aren't they cute?

-Two rabbits? repeated the captain in disbelief. You mean we went through all this trouble just to rescue TWO RABBITS? Oh, why do things like this always have to happen on MY ship?

* * *

The four bucks were slowly going back up the stairs. There were no signs of Hyzenthlay in any of the cabins they had searched.

-Any other place? asked Hazel.

-Only one, sighed Blackberry. That's the Big Water. I'm sorry, Hazel-rah.

-No...

At that moment, he spotted a dark shape further away. He slowly approached it, until he finally realized that it was his mate.

-O Hyzenthlay! said Hazel. I was so worried when I saw that you were missing.

-You shouldn't have, she whispered. After surviving all these seasons in Efrafa, I'm wasn't going to let myself get killed by the Big Water.

-Where have you been all this time? shouted Bigwig in an accusing tone. Do you realize how much time we spent looking for you?

-Hey you big hairy buck, you leave her alone! ordered Spartina, who had overheard Bigwig. She saved my life, don't you dare bully her.

Bigwig remained silent. He was unsure of what to make of this new, good-looking rabbit with a feather in her ear.

-Uh...I'm sorry I...

-I love you, confessed Hazel to his mate. Did I say that out loud?

-Yes, replied Hyzenthlay, slightly amused. You did.

With that, the two rabbits touched their noses together, only to be interrupted by a wave crashing on the deck very close to them. The ship had entered the eyewall again.

-Look, you two, interjected Spartina, I know you're in love and all, but now is not the time to do this. Do you know any place where we can all be safe from this storm?

-I know a place, recalled Pipkin, I'll show you.

With that, he led everyone else to the captain's cabin, while the captain himself was in the control room, trying to steer the ship out of the typhoon.


	23. El-ahrairah and the Great Flood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters of Tassel and Calohki come from the series.

 

The lesson will always repeat itself, unless you see yourself as the problem--not others.

\--Shannon L. Alder

* * *

At Watership Down, nearly all the rabbits were in the Honeycomb. Silver, still weak from the fight with the homba, had given his position of Chief Rabbit to Dandelion.

Dandelion decided to tell a story of El-ahrairah. Even the rabbits of Cowslip's warren decided to listen, in order to relearn this important part of the lives of wild rabbits.

“There was a time when the meadows of Fenlo were plagued by rain. There had recently been a great drought, but now, the rain was excessive: Frith could not be seen for days at a time, nearly all the burrows were leaking, all the rivers were overflowing and the ground was muddy everywhere. It became extremely dangerous for El-ahrairah to reach farms to raid them, and when he did, he found no flayrah, as it had all been ruined by the rain.

After several months, the rain finally stopped, but it seemed that the entire area was covered with water. The warren was falling apart, and all the rabbits were cramped in the few remaining comfortable burrows, slowly becoming sick from starvation.

El-ahrairah decided to search the area for any place where his people would be safe. He and Rabscuttle stepped on a small wooden board, which had drifted near the warren a few days before, and set out on their journey. They had seen their share of disasters during their lives, but this was one of the worst. The soil of the forest was covered with a thick layer of water with rotting leaves and burning white sticks floating on the surface. Most of the trees were slowly dying and nearly all the smaller plants were no longer visible. Squirrels and other animals were doing their best to survive at the top of the remaining trees.

El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle survived on tree bark and the few pieces of flayrah they could find floating on the water. During their journey, they met several other animals who joined them. They rescued Yona the hedgehog, who was trapped on a small rock. They also saved Hawock the pheasant from drowning. They also saved Tassel the squirrel, as the branch she lived on had broken off the tree and fallen into the water. At one point, even Calohki the puffin joined them. Kehaar told me that a puffin is some sort of bird, but that's all I know.

The currents carried them all the way to the Marshes of Kelfazin and beyond, and there was water everywhere. Even King Darzin's empire was in bad shape. The days kept passing, and finally they reached a dam. If you don't know, a dam is a large structure that prevents rivers from flowing in certain places, causing them to flow in places where it shouldn't instead. Generally they are build by humans, but this one definitely wasn't, as Prince Rainbow was floating over it.

-So, El-ahrairah, you have finally come.

-I have, My Lord. I come to destroy this dam, as it is threatening the lives of my people.

-El-ahrairah, surely you must have figured out why it is there?

-Well, since you are here, My Lord, I can guess. But all this water must go back where it came from.

-But you do not know where it came from. Don't you realize that I was responsible for the drought? I had to hold back months of rain to cause it. When I found out you had still managed to find food, I decided to send you all this rain all at once to completely destroy you.

-I can understand you wanting to destroy me, My Lord, but don't you realize that you are hurting everyone? All these other animals are also suffering, yet they haven't done anything.

-I know, El-ahrairah. But you left me no choice. I tried many tricks but none of them worked. I therefore had to resort to more drastic measures.

At this, El-ahrairah realized he could not trick Prince Rainbow into removing the dam, he would have to do it himself. He jumped on it and began to chew it. Seeing this, Prince Rainbow threatened:

-I shall speak to Lord Frith himself about this!

-Remember what Lord Frith said: Be cunning and full of tricks, and your people shall never be destroyed. You may try to destroy me, but you will never be able to succeed.

-Very well, El-ahrairah. If this is the way you wish to die, let it not be said afterwards that I didn't try to warn you.

With that, he suddenly vanished. El-ahrairah chewed and clawed at the dam, which slowly started to leak until it finally broke apart. Unfortunately, as he was standing on it, he fell in the torrent.

The next few minutes were the most terrifying of El-ahrairah's life since his visit to the Black Rabbit of Inlé, as he was convinced that he was going to drown. Suddenly, something grabbed one of his paws. The board where all the others were had gotten stuck between two trees, allowing Rabscuttle to rescue El-ahrairah from the torrent.

It took several hours for all the water to drain away. The rabbits and the other animals stayed on the board until the ground dried. El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle's journey back to their warren took a few weeks, and when they were finally back, they found that the warren was now prospering, and the plants had started to grow again after the water was gone.”

As Dandelion finished, all the rabbits cheered, amazed at the storyteller's talent.

-Tell us another one, Dandelion! demanded one of the rabbits of Cowslip's warren.

-No, I don't think it would be a good idea. You should all get some rest if you want to go dig the new warren tomorrow.

-Uh...none of us ever did any serious digging back at the Warren of the Shining Wires, Hickory pointed out. It would be greatly appreciated if you could come and help us.

-I have already dug one warren! complained Hawkbit, who overheard the conversation. I'm not digging another one.

-How about settling this by playing bobstones? suggested Dandelion. Everyone will play against me, and the first one to defeat me will become Chief Rabbit and make their own decision as to who will go to help with the digging.

One by one, the rabbits of Cowslip's warren played against Dandelion, but all of them were defeated, as the game was not played very often at their old warren. The only one who had a chance was Silverweed, who managed to read Dandelion's mind to find all the right answers, but he considered this unfair and purposely lost the game.

Then, it was Hawkbit's turn, but he did not seem interested:

-I'm trying to take a nap, here! If you don't mind, I'll play later.

-I must warn you, Hawky, my next opponent was a bobstones champion back in Efrafa.

-I'm not afraid of any Efrafan. And stop calling me Hawky.

With that, he went back to sleep. A while later, after waking up and having a short silflay, he went to Dandelion's burrow to play.

-It's going to be really exciting, being Chief Rabbit. I'll teach them all how bucks don't dig. You'll let me win, won't you?

-I may let you win, but you won't be Chief Rabbit. The former Efrafan bobstones champion defeated me.

-Oh. Who was it, Blackavar?

-No, Thethuthinnang. We're all going to dig tomorrow.

-You wouldn't joke about something like this, would you?

-Of course not, but you know, Hawky, this is all your fault? You had your chance to play against me, but instead you chose to take a nap. You must now face the consequences.


	24. A Place So Cold

[...] which just tells me they have never seen an angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100 mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.

\--Linus Torvalds

* * *

 

The punt where Buttercup, Fiver and Vilthuril were had reached a small bay near Ross Island, in Antarctica. It soon drifted on a thin layer of ice around the island.

-What is this place? asked Vilthuril.

-I've never been here, but I've heard stories about this place, replied Buttercup. This is a place where time flows much slower than in the rest of the world. A single day lasts several months here.

-I'm not sure I understand...

-Neither do I. I heard this story from a large black and white bird and I didn't understand most of it. I guess we'll probably be able to figure it out if we stay here long enough.

With that, all three rabbits jumped off the boat. The ice made worryingly loud cracking noises as they walked towards the shore. Suddenly, Fiver stepped on a piece of ice that had gotten detached from the rest, and it collapsed under him, causing him to fall into the freezing water below. Vilthuril immediately rushed to help him, but he was completely tharn, so he only succeeded in dragging her into the water with him.

Buttercup knew that if she got closer to the two rabbits, the ice would probably break, or they would drag her into the water too. There were no other animals around that could help her, she would have to do rescue them without help. The only nearby object that she could use was the boat. Quickly, she went to it and pushed it towards the hole in the ice, until the rim was within reach of the couple.

-Grab the boat! she ordered.

Fiver and Vilthuril did their best to put their front paws on the rim of the boat. Once they were holding on to it, Buttercup tried to pull it away from the hole. After several minutes of hard work, she finally succeeded in pulling them out of the water.

While the two rabbits' lives were no longer in immediate danger, their fur was soaked in water and slowly freezing. Unless Buttercup could find a way to get them warm soon, they would stop running. This meant getting them underground, or finding more rabbits to exchange body heat with. Until then, she had to keep them active.

Buttercup urged her companions to move, claiming she knew a safe place. The two others struggled to walk, and she frequently had to push them to get them to keep going. After what felt like forever, the three rabbits finally reached a large, black rock. They snuggled closely together next to it, and found that it was pleasantly warm. Soon afterwards, however, the rock moved, and the rabbits saw, much to their horror, that it was not a rock, but a penguin, and it was staring at them with an angry look in its eyes. They slowly backed away from it, and went to hide behind another penguin, where they all fell asleep.

When they woke up a while later, they saw that they were surrounded by several penguins, all staring at them. The birds did not seem to be angry or afraid, but surprised.

-How did we end up here? asked Fiver. I don't remember anything.

-I brought you two near these birds to keep you warm, explained Buttercup, but I didn't expect it to end up like this.

-But what are these birds? wondered Vilthuril. I've never seen one before.

-I don't know, but a bird like this once told me about this cold place we are in now, recalled Buttercup. I don't think they're elil.

-Either way, I'm not sure I would like to stay so close to such large birds, said Fiver. Let's get out of here.

The three rabbits slowly made their way out of the group, with the penguins turning their heads to keep staring at them.

As they found themselves in the open, they realized that they were in no better situation. Their dark fur was a clearly visible against the white ice and snow, making them an easy target for elil. The wind was starting to pick up and it was rapidly becoming much colder. They had been in this place for several hours and Frith showed no sign of leaving the sky.

The rabbits walked a certain distance before they finally reached the only nearby human settlement, the McMurdo station. When a human got out of a building soon afterwards, they went inside. It was comfortably warm and they huddled together in a corner to sleep, without bothering to find a safe hiding spot. As a consequence, they were soon spotted by one of the scientists living in that building. He left them alone, but knew that their presence was a major problem. Pets were forbidden in the station, and if someone managed to bring three rabbits with them without anyone noticing, someone might be able to smuggle a bomb into the station, or worse.

Later that day, the scientists unanimously decided that no tourists would be allowed in the station until the security measures could be strengthened. All the tourists currently there were to leave on the next boat, which was expected to arrive later that day.

Meanwhile, the three rabbits were slowly waking up. Fiver and Vilthuril had fully recovered from the incident in the water.

-Let's go to silflay, suggested Vilthuril.

-I'm afraid that's impossible, said Buttercup. There aren't any plants here, and there isn't any flayrah left on the boat.

-Then what can we eat?

-That shouldn't be a problem, explained Fiver while calmly combing his ears. I just had a vision. The humans are going to bring us to a place where there will be some flayrah. Just don't fight when you will get picked up.

-A human is going to pick us up? gasped Vilthuril.

-Yes, but it's the only way to reach the place I saw. If you resist, you will only injure yourself. Be prepared, this human should arrive...now.

As Fiver finished to speak, a scientist entered the building. He was the one who had been chosen to carry the rabbits to the ship, as he had briefly studied veterinary medicine in college before turning to meteorology. He picked up Fiver under one arm and Vilthuril under the other. He was slightly annoyed at the fact that he would have to make a second trip for the third rabbit. However, Buttercup followed him all the way to the boat, in case the human would try to hurt her companions and she would have to rescue them.

The ship's captain received strict orders not to hurt the rabbits and to bring them safely to the ship's destination, Ushuaia, in Argentina.

-And what am I to do with them once I get there? he asked, slightly annoyed.

-I have no idea, answered the scientist. I guess you can do anything you want with them. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get a third rabbit.

As he turned to leave the boat, he saw that the third rabbit was right in front of him. He did not understand why she had followed him, but he didn't care. He softly scratched her between the ears and went back to the station.

“Humans can be so weird” thought Buttercup.


	25. Spartina's Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was partly inspired by Speedwell's Story in Tales from Watership Down. The characters of Hedge and Skree come from the series.

 

Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.

\--Charles Lamb, _The Life, Letters and Writings of Charles Lamb_

* * *

After several hours, the ship was finally clear of the typhoon. While nearly all the containers had fallen overboard and those that remained had been severely damaged, the ship was still afloat and would only require minor repairs. While the captain knew that he was responsible for the destruction of the containers, he also knew that most captains would not have been able to keep their ship afloat in such a strong typhoon.

* * *

The rabbits were slowly getting to know Spartina. Her life had been clearly different from any of theirs, due to the strict militaristic regime in Darkhaven. They had trouble understanding her descriptions of various pieces of human junk that were processed by the machines. Nevertheless, she seemed to be a good fighter and a useful asset to the group. Bigwig was taking a special interest in her.

The next day, while everyone was eating some flayrah from a container that had fallen apart, Bigwig suggested that Spartina tell everyone a story of El-ahrairah.

-Do you wish to request a specific story? she asked.

-I don't know. I'm sure the stories you told in your old Darkling warren are different from those we know.

-You're probably right, except that the warren was called Darkhaven, not Darkling. Anyway, here is the story of El-ahrairah's unusual trip:

“El-ahrairah was profoundly annoyed. He had found a certain human object near the warren and wanted to understand what it was before silflay. Unfortunately, he couldn't because he didn't see the end of the wires.

He went and cleaned his nose. Outside, the rabbits were drying the grass to bring it underground. Rabscuttle asked him if he had to pass hraka, but he didn't, so instead he went to get some dew to make his fur shiny. He was thinking about the cats and how they really should be elsewhere. He hoped he wouldn't have to send Rabscuttle to Hufsa's warren all over again because some of his rabbits were kidnapped.

Suddenly, Prince Rainbow arrived and started shooting burning rainbows everywhere for no reason. That was the stupidest thing he had done since he had caused a snowstorm the previous summer. This caused several rocks to be moved and the mountain to fall apart. El-ahrairah would have to rebuild it when he would stop seeing the rocks' shadows. He rode his hrududu for a while to stop thinking about Prince Rainbow's competition. Instead, he ended up thinking about the day when the dog had prematurely harvested the warren's entire supply of flayrah.

Along the iron road, he found a box. He opened it and saw that it was full of water. He poured the water onto the ground and a forest grew. It was a magical forest, where guns can shoot by themselves and where trees can catch fire under one's paws. That was because Prince Rainbow once decided that El-ahrairah stories were stupid and needed to be banned so he could take over the world. He failed because of one of El-ahrairah's daughters. Her name was Violet.

El-ahrairah jumped into the ditch. He then heard strange sounds and, in an attempt to determine where they came from, he walked off a cliff. He spent a few hours hanging from a tree root before falling in the Big Water. Below the Big Water, there was another world, where it is possible to do many things you can't do in this world. A hawk called Skree, who for some reason wants to help rabbits, saved El-ahrairah and put him back on the ground.

El-ahrairah then realized that he was in a place that he did not know. He had never been there before despite having travelled around the world the previous year. Suddenly, he saw a big snow monster. In an attempt to get away from it, he climbed to the top of a tree and jumped into the sky, eventually landing on Inlé.

Inlé was a terrible place, full of human junk everywhere. The Black Rabbit had left after the humans' first visit there. The only creature El-ahrairah found was a turtle called Hedge, who proclaimed herself to be a wizard. She said: “This is series hrair! This is all the fault of humans but don't blame that yellow rabbit. Don't forget the laws of magic”. This was an encrypted message. El-ahrairah had first encountered encryption when a hlessi started to become invisible and drive everyone crazy. Since then, he had discovered the secret to encryption, allowing him to decrypt Hedge's message: it told him to jump to the nearest rock, the red one. He did so and found the Black Rabbit. They played a friendly game of bobstones that neither won. The two wandered around the area, meeting many famous rabbits who had stopped running a long time ago. Eventually, it became time for El-ahrairah to go home. He went back to the other planet when suddenly...”

By that point, the other rabbits were nearly tharn. They did not understand anything Spartina was saying, but they all wanted to know what was going to happen to El-ahrairah. They were suddenly interrupted by a raucous cry from above. Before they could realize what was happening, a large seagull crashed in the middle of the group.

-Meester Pigvig! Meester Hazel! You all right?

-Of course we're all right, Kehaar, sighed Hazel, although you did scare us a little just now. Anyway, did you find anything?

-Ya, ya, I see dem. Der poat sent dem to dat veree cold place!

-Where is this...very cold place?

-Now why don't you tell us more about these objects you found on the shores of...Darkhaven? said Bigwig, taking advantage of Kehaar's arrival to sneak away from the others with Spartina.

-I brought one of these objects with me when I escaped. I'll show it to you.

She took him to the other end of the deck, only to start smelling the ground, clearly puzzled.

-What's the matter?

-It's gone. I left it right there, and now I can't find it anymore!

* * *

The ship's captain burst into the third officer's cabin.

-Hey! I need your help! he shouted.

-Here I am, answered the officer. What can I do for you?

-My VCR is broken again! Come and fix it.

The officer sighed. The captain frequently asked him to repair various machines on the ship, although he rarely succeeded. Unfortunately, he had no idea how VCRs work.

He followed the captain to his quarters and extracted a videocassette from the machine with a pair of pliers. He looked at it for a few seconds, before turning to the captain:

-Do you notice anything unusual about this videocassette?

-Well, the tape is hanging out of the cassette. Why don't you just fix the VCR?

-Did you notice anything else?

-Well, it was a little bit wet, but not enough to cause any problems. Why are you asking me all these questions?

-A LITTLE bit wet? Where did you get this?

-I, uh...I found it lying on the deck, uh...

-That explains everything. Your VCR is ruined, but I might still be able to recover the data on the cassette...

The third officer succeeded in digitizing the videocassette; it was surveillance camera footage of Hyzenthlay and Spartina's escape. However, all the rabbits were speaking Lapiné so nobody understood what was happening. The footage eventually became a minor hit on the Internet.

* * *

After several days, the ship finally reached its destination of Vancouver, Canada.

-You reach land now, Kehaar told the rabbits. You can go pack on yur search.

-All right, Kehaar, we'll be leaving now, decided Hazel.

He quickly found Hyzenthlay, Pipkin and Blackberry, but Bigwig and Spartina were nowhere to be seen.

-These two spend a lot of time alone together, said Pipkin, and I discovered their hiding spot. I'll show you.

With that, he led the others to the small hiding spot, behind one of the containers.

-Look...Spartina...I've been meaning to ask you this...since we first met, Bigwig was struggling to say. Will you...

-You want us to be mates? guessed Spartina.

-Uh, yes...

-But what about Thethuthinnang? interjected Hyzenthlay.

With that, Bigwig and Spartina turned and stared at her. While Bigwig's look displayed a mixture of anger and fear, Spartina seemed surprised.

-Who's Thethuthinnang? she asked.

-Vat you all wait for? shouted Kehaar. You can all get oof dis poat now!

-Where are we going? What's going on? Why does nobody tell me anything?

-We have to search for Fiver and Vilthuril, explained Hazel, we'll deal with this other problem later.

As the six rabbits walked towards the ramp leading off the ship, Spartina pulled Hyzenthlay aside.

-You’re the only one I can really trust, after what just happened. Who's Thethuthinnang?

-She's Bigwig's mate. She's still at the warren where we all lived before going on this rescue mission.

-He already has a mate? Then why did he...

-When it comes to love, Bigwig is a mess. He even asked me to become his mate once, but I had already chosen Hazel-rah.

-Oh.

As everyone was walking down the ramp and towards the wharf, Bigwig and Spartina did their best to be as far from each other as they could without straying too far away from the rest of the group. The other rabbits left them alone, knowing that there was nothing they could do to improve the situation.


	26. The Long Road

Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.

\--Soren Kierkegaard

* * *

The hitchhiker was standing on the side of the road, waiting for a vehicle to pick him up. It took at least half an hour for a vehicle to finally stop near him. Before he could get in, however, three rabbits were thrown out and the car was already gone. The ship's captain had been ordered to get the rabbits to Ushuaia safely, but he was free to do what he wanted with them afterwards, so he got rid of them as soon as he could. As soon as they were on the ground, the rabbits began to nibble the grass.

The hitchhiker looked at them, then sat down next to them.

-You know, I've met many people during my travels, but never before have I travelled with rabbits. Let's be friends, shall we?

With that, he presented his hand.

-What's the matter with him? asked Buttercup. Isn't he afraid of our teeth?

-He looks somewhat friendly, observed Vilthuril, so I don't see why we should bite him. But if he touches us, you can be sure I will.

-No? You don't want to be friends with me? Oh well, I guess it was to be expected...HEY!

He got up and raised his thumb as another car rolled by, but it didn't stop, so he sat back down.

-I can understand you. But just to prove that I don't want to hurt you, I have a gift for you.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a carrot, which he put on the ground next to the rabbits. They slowly approached it and smelled it for a long time before starting to eat it.

-My, you're hungry, aren't you? Well, considering you accepted my gift, we can probably be friends.

-Isn't it annoying? mumbled Vilthuril. All humans ever do is talk.

-He gave us some flayrah, reminded Fiver. Maybe if we stay, he will give us some more.

The hitchhiker suddenly spotted a large truck approaching. He tried to attract attention, and this time it worked.

-Come on in! shouted the driver as he opened the door on the passenger's side.

-All right, you coming? the hitchhiker asked the rabbits. No? Well, I guess this is where I leave you. Goodbye!

-What do we do now? enquired Buttercup.

-We follow him, decided Fiver. He probably has more flayrah with him, so if we want it we have to follow him.

The three rabbits also climbed onboard the truck and hid under the seat.

-What's that smell? moaned Vilthuril.

-Fish, answered Fiver, just as disgusted as his mate. That's what Kehaar eats.

-Oh! There must be a lot of it for it to smell so strongly!

Meanwhile, the truck had started to move again.

-You're my first hitchhiker in a few weeks, said the driver. It's nice to finally have someone to talk to.

-It must be really lonely, spending all these hours alone in a truck. What are you hauling?

-Fish, to Buenos Aires. I hope that's where you want to go?

-Sure, that's all right! I'm just wandering around the world, to see where it takes me, and having wacky adventures along the way. Just a few minutes ago, I saw three rabbits.

Over the course of the trip, the two humans talked about their various adventures, while the rabbits remained under the seat. Fiver started to chew the hitchhiker's backpack and, after a few minutes, he came upon several vegetables.

-I knew he was carrying flayrah in this thing, but I didn't expect him to carry that much.

-It's a good thing he did, said Vilthuril. That food on the boat really was terrible.

With that, all three rabbits started to eat the vegetables. The humans were too absorbed in their conversation to hear the loud chewing noises.

After several hours, the truck was nearing its destination. Just before entering the city, the hitchhiker told his companion:

-Well, this is where I leave you. Thanks for the ride!

-Already? Why, it feels like you just arrived. Oh well, you can't stay here forever. It's been nice talking to you.

As soon as the hitchhiker got out of the truck, another human got inside and slammed the door.

-Wow, I spent a few weeks without a single hitchhiker and now I have two the same day! exclaimed the driver.

The new passenger gave the driver several banknotes and ordered:

-Get to the airport as soon as possible! My rental car broke down.

The truck sped away towards the airport.

-What's that smell? complained the passenger.

The rabbits had passed hraka under the seat.

-Probably my fish, answered the driver.

-Fish? What fish?

-The fish I'm carrying...oh no the trailer fell off. This truck wasn't built to go so fast. I better go back...

-No! I will buy your load! Anything to get to the airport on time.

With that, he gave the driver even more money.

-Are you sure you really want to do this? Wouldn't it be cheaper to reserve a seat on another plane?

-No, I must get there as soon as possible!

-All right, if that's you want...

-You still haven't told me what's the smell, insisted the passenger.

-I don't smell anything besides gasoline, same as always. What do you smell?

-I...would rather not describe it.

-It's probably an engine problem. I will stop to take a look...

-NO! Unless the engine is in immediate danger of blowing up, don't stop! I will buy you a new truck if necessary.

A few minutes later, the truck stopped near the airport. The passenger opened the door and ran towards the terminal.

-Hey! You forgot your wallet! shouted the driver.

-You can keep it, I don't have enough time to bother with that!

-But your ticket is in there!

Unfortunately, the passenger had already vanished inside the building. The driver felt a little bit sorry for his passenger, who had paid him a fortune to get him to the airport on time only to lose his ticket. There was nothing he could do, so he decided to inspect his engine to see what caused the smell.

Meanwhile, the rabbits were still inside the vehicle.

-Fiver, do you have any idea where we should go now? asked Vilthuril.

-No. But I feel something. I don't know what it is, but it's there.

He remained motionless, staring in front of him. Suddenly, the driver accidentally activated the horn, causing Vilthuril and Buttercup to panic and bolt out of the truck. When it stopped a few seconds later, they turned and saw that they were alone.

-I hope he didn't bolt in the wrong direction, said Vilthuril. The last time this happened, I nearly stopped running trying to find him.

The two does hurried back to the truck and found that Fiver was right where they had left him, shaking his head.

-Now I know where we must do, he explained. We must go inside a large flying hrududu, that will take us very close to Watership Down. I can see it in my mind.

-You had us really scared, back then, when you didn't follow us when we bolted, Vilthuril sighed in relief. Weren't you afraid of that dreadful noise?

-Noise? What noise? I didn't hear anything. I was probably too absorbed in my vision. Anyway, we better get going.

-Your warren seems like a nice place, opined Buttercup. Would you mind if I came with you?

-We would be glad to have you with us, assured Vilthuril.

Meanwhile, the trucker had finished inspecting the engine. He had concluded that there was nothing wrong with it and his passenger had probably imagined the smell. As he got back inside the vehicle, he saw the three rabbits jump out. “Rabbits here?” he thought. “I have two passengers today and now three rabbits. I wish most days were as exciting as this. Oh well, I better get my fish back”.

The rabbits wandered throughout the airport, nibbling the grass around the runways. Eventually, they spotted the airplane Fiver had seen in his vision, and slowly approached it. They went up the stairs leading to the cabin, doing their best to avoid being stepped on by the many human passengers, and once inside, they hid under the first seat they could find.

-It's great to finally be in a place where we can be safe, together, and without any fish, said Vilthuril quietly.

With that, Fiver and Vilthuril touched their noses together, while Buttercup was smelling the feet of a nearby human.


	27. The Railway Station

 

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.  
\--Martin Luther King Jr.

* * *

As the six rabbits were walking through the harbour, Bigwig pulled Hazel aside.

-I sure made a mess of everything back there, didn't I? he told his friend. Asking her to be my mate. I already have a mate and I love her, but instead I just make this big mistake. Even if she decides not to tell Thethuthinnang anything when we get back to the Down, you can be sure that Pipkin or Hyzenthlay will talk. I'm really terrible when it comes to love. I really should have stuck to fighting.

-What is done is done. We need to continue our search.

-I guess you're right. Duty first, romance later.

Despite what Bigwig had said, he still found it hard to keep his mind off the mistake he had made. He wandered aimlessly around the harbour, until he came upon a bus. Without thinking, he walked inside, and the others followed him. They hid under several seats, with Bigwig and Spartina as far from each other as they could. Nobody reacted when the doors closed and the hrududu started to move. Hazel went to see Pipkin.

-Hlao-roo, do you have any idea where we should go now?

-Where? But Hazel-rah, generally you are the one who makes such decisions.

-I know, but you see, Hlao-roo, we last saw Fiver far away from here, and Kehaar's description of the very cold place didn't make any sense. I'm beginning to wonder if he made the whole thing up.

-I'm sure Fiver is alright, Hazel-rah. His visions allow him to escape any danger.

-But they don't always come, not for every danger. What if, just once, he didn't have any, and suffered the tragic consequences.

-We must not lose hope, Hazel-rah. When we left Sandleford and it looked like there was nowhere we could go, we kept hoping that we would reach Fiver's high hills, and eventually we did. We must not lose hope now.

-What you say is true, Hlao-roo, but after so long, it becomes hard not to lose hope. So many things have happened to us since we left the Down, imagine what must have happened to Fiver. Hopefully he's all right...

Meanwhile, most of the human passengers on the bus were using their smartphones. One of them tried to take a picture of the rabbits, but Pipkin grabbed it and dropped it on the floor. The passenger picked it up in disgust, then got up and went to see the driver.

-Excuse me, but is there any place where I can clean this?

-Don't stand up while the bus is moving.

-This rabbit chewed my smartphone, it's covered with saliva, I need to clean it.

-What rabbit?

-There are several rabbits under the seat, over there.

The driver turned to look at the rabbits, then said with anger:

-All pets must be in their cages.

-But these are not my pets!

At that point, the bus stopped. The driver got up and shouted:

-Who is the owner of these rabbits? How dare you keep them out of their cage?

Most passengers put down their smartphones and stared at him with shock, but nobody spoke.

-Oh, so you won't confess, huh? In that case, the rabbits shall be kicked off the bus. Will you reveal yourself now?

The passengers remained silent. Seeing this, the driver opened the doors and foolishly expected the rabbits to walk out. When that didn't happen, he picked up Blackberry and Bigwig and threw them out. The other four ran out of the bus before the driver could do the same thing to them.

Being thrown out by such a rough and clumsy human was a somewhat painful experience for the two rabbits, especially for Blackberry, who landed on a cigarette lighter. Kehaar arrived soon afterwards.

-Stoopeed hrududu! Ees too fast fo Kehaar!

-Why do humans always have to be so brutal? mumbled Bigwig.

-I've had enough humans for the rest of my life, groaned Blackberry.

-Just when things possibly couldn't get any worse, look over there, said Hyzenthlay.

There was a human, with a large gun in his hands. The rabbits were in a railway station, and a police officer was patrolling the area to prevent hobos from illegally boarding freight trains.

-Meester 'azel, vere you go now?

-I really don't know, Kehaar. Do you know a safe place where we can rest, away from that human?

-Ya, Kehaar know da place. Dis vay.

Kehaar led the rabbits towards one of the trains. It was a long process, with Blackberry struggling to keep up with the others. When they finally reached the train, they stopped in front of one of the first wagons.

-Vat you stop here for? asked Kehaar.

-I don't really think I want to hide under a hrududu, Kehaar, said Hazel. It must be dangerous. What if it suddenly starts to move?

-Nah, not oonder da hrududu, eenside da hrududu.

Hazel stared at the massive hrududu, currently immobile. The only way in was to climb a few steps, which would be nearly impossible for Blackberry in his current state. Seeing them hesitate, Kehaar got impatient:

-Stoopeed bunnes! I show you. Like dis!

With that, he grabbed Blackberry by the back and threw him inside the wagon. The others simply jumped onboard before Kehaar could pick them up.

The wagon was filled almost entirely with apples. It was refrigerated, but with the door opened, it was not particularly cold inside.

Suddenly, a bright light shone from outside the wagon. The rabbits hid under the apples as well as they could. A railway employee scanned the inside of the wagon with his flashlight and, concluding that there were no hobos inside, closed the door. The rabbits immediately realized they were trapped.

-Kehaar! How do we get out of here? shouted Hazel.

Kehaar was on the roof of another wagon eating a fish. Unfortunately, the train was departing and the sound of the engine was preventing him from hearing Hazel.


	28. Digging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tindra is a random doe who appears in TFWD.

 

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

\--Anonymous

* * *

At Watership Down, Hawkbit was extremely frustrated at the fact that Thethuthinnang would make him dig a new warren, and was taking his anger out on Dandelion.

-I made the rules and she won, his friend reminded him. She deserves the position.

-She must have used her visions or something to cheat!

-She doesn't have visions.

-Well, can't you do something?

-Sorry, Hawky, but this whole thing is your fault. You had your chance to play, but you let her play before you and she defeated me. As Chief Rabbit, she decided that we will all help with the digging, and you have to obey her.

-I will not be bossed around by a doe. And stop calling me Hawky.

The digging party left the Down early in the morning. All the rabbits of Cowslip's warren, along with Thethuthinnang, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Blackavar, Tindra and Clover made their way towards the location where the new warren was going to be established. They reached it around ni-Frith.

The rabbits were split into four groups, led by Clover, Hickory, Marigold and Thethuthinnang respectively, with Blackavar and Dandelion as sentries. The digging began almost immediately, but progressed very slowly. No digging had been performed in Cowslip's warren in seasons. The rabbits got tired easily and collapses were frequent. By the end of the afternoon, a few short runs had been made, but none of them were connected. Fu Inlé, the warren was nothing more than a loose arrangement of tunnels, many in danger of collapse. Thethuthinnang realized that the groups weren't organized very well, as there were too many rabbits present. She sent most of them back to the Down, leaving only Hickory, Marigold, Tindra, Hawkbit, a few does from Cowslip's warren, and herself.

-Of all the rabbits you could keep, you had to choose me, complained Hawkbit. Why?

-Because you're a good digger, once you stop complaining and start doing it, answered Thethuthinnang.

-I will not let you take my dignity away in front of all these strangers.

-That's not very nice, Hawkbit. These rabbits have been living with us for weeks and you call them strangers.

-Never mind that detail, I have already dug one warren, I don't want to dig another one. A doe as the only Chief Rabbit of a warren is never a good idea. You need a buck to balance you.

-Do you have anyone to suggest?

Hawkbit thought quickly. Most of the older bucks in the warren had already taken up the position and been forced to leave it to someone else. Nearly all the others were still too young and inexperienced to take on such a task. Boxwood was technically eligible, but having a hutch rabbit as Chief Rabbit was out of the question. That left only one possibility,

-Me?

As he said that, looks of profound discouragement appeared on nearly everyone else's faces.

-Anyone else? asked Thethuthinnang.

-No...

-Does anyone else have anyone to suggest?

-Pretty much anyone would be better than him...whispered Tindra, doing her best not to be heard by Hawkbit.

Thethuthinnang waited for a few more minutes, but no further suggestions were made.

-Hawkbit, you don't really have what it takes to be a Chief Rabbit, but you would make a fine captain of owsla, she decided. Would you be interested?

-Of course I would! said Hawkbit, excited. So what does this job involve?

-You get to lead one of the digging groups.

Hawkbit was horrified at this. Not only would he still have to dig, but he would also have to supervise other, inexperienced rabbits. As he saw the others looking at him expectantly, he realized that there was no way he could escape the digging, so he might as well try to get the whole thing finished as soon as possible. He mumbled something about how he spends all his life either digging or making up reasons not to, then went inside the first hole he could find and started the task.


	29. Return to the Down

 

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

\--Ursula K. Le Guin

* * *

The three rabbits remained under the seat where they had hidden. They did not try to attract the humans' attention and spent the entire trip playing bobstones with one of the passengers' money.

After a few hours, the airplane was nearing Heathrow Airport. The runway was plainly visible to the pilot, but there was something in the middle of it that was not supposed to be there. It was the self-driving double-decker bus that Hazel and the others had taken earlier in their journey. It had been fished out of the Thames and slightly reprogrammed to prevent further accidents. It had somehow made its way to the runway and was a hazard to any airplane that would land there. That would be a difficult landing.

Despite the risk of the procedure, the pilot still managed to land the airplane without crashing into the bus or anyone getting hurt. The passengers slowly got up and started to leave.

-I suppose it's time to leave this place, isn't it, Fiver my dear? asked Vilthuril.

-You're right. In fact, the Down is only one more hrududu away.

-Which type, this time?

-This one moves on roads.

The rabbits also got out of the airplane and went largely unnoticed, as most of the passengers were paying attention to the bus instead. Several airport employees were trying to remove the hood, so they could access the engine to turn it off. Unfortunately, it was held in place by several large bolts and nobody had the right tool to remove them. The three rabbits walked inside the hrududu through its open doors.

-Be prepared for a bumpy ride, warned Fiver as the doors closed, and always expect the unexpected.

With that, the bus rolled off the runway towards the electric fence surrounding the airport. The vehicle kept pushing against the fence, and after several minutes, it finally succeeded in breaking through. Several of the fence's wires remained tangled around the bus' roof and wheels, but this did not prevent it from continuing its trip, and it was soon travelling towards the Hampshire countryside.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, with the rabbits occupying themselves by telling El-ahrairah stories. Suddenly, Fiver stopped and started to stare wide-eyed through the window. He only regained touch with reality a few minutes later.

-Something very bad is going to happen. We must all stay very close to each other so we won't get hurt.

Soon afterwards, the bus rolled off the road at a sharp turn and continued its way through the field. Almost immediately afterwards, it fell into a ditch, and stopped moving.

The three rabbits were looking like a ball of fur with a few paws and ears sticking out at random angles. They got back up and started to clean their fur.

-Hrududil can be really terrible places, complained Buttercup.

-We've been travelling inside hrududil for a few weeks, and you get used to it after a while, said Vilthuril. What do we do now, Fiver?

-We just get out through the small hole over there.

The “hole” was actually a window that had shattered when the bus fell into the ditch. The rabbits climbed onto a seat and jumped out through the window. Only then did they realize the bus had stopped much closer to the Down than they thought: the ditch was in the middle of a field close to Nuthanger Farm.

The three rabbits slowly made their way through the field. They were in no hurry, and frequently stopped to silflay. When they finally reached the bottom of the Down, it was ni-Frith.

-Here it is, proclaimed Fiver. Watership Down. Our warren is at the top.

-That is the most beautiful hill I've ever seen, said Buttercup, amazed.

The rabbits slowly climbed the Down. When they reached the top, there were no other rabbits around, as everyone was either digging with Thethuthinnang or sleeping underground. They remained outside for a while, eating and contemplating the view, before finally going underground.


	30. Runaway Train

 

Suddenly, sparks flew, red lights flashed, and an alarm began ringing. The train shuddered, then began accelerating! Chip realized that he had made a mistake. The train was running out of control!

\--”The Architect” and J. B. Lewis, [CCLP1](http://jamesa7171.net/cclp1/CCLP1.zip)

* * *

The wagon where the rabbits were became much colder after the door was closed, forcing them to huddle together for warmth. The apples, while they tasted good, did not provide complete nutrition. Everyone was digging through the fruit, searching for a way out of the wagon. Suddenly, Hazel heard the faint voice of Kehaar.

-...'azel, vere...you?

He climbed to the top of the pile of apples and hit the ceiling of the wagon with his front paws.

-I'm in here, Kehaar!

-Meester...hear...don't see...

Hazel kept hitting the ceiling until Kehaar finally realized that the vibrations were made by one of the rabbits. He made his way towards the place where they came from and hit the roof with his beak several times, confirming he had found the correct location.

-Meester 'azel, I found you! Vat are you doing in dere?

With Kehaar exactly over him, Hazel managed to hear him more clearly, but was annoyed at the gull's remark. Had he really forgotten that he was the one who had sent them inside? Nevertheless, if they wanted to get out, they would probably need his help, and this was no time to make him angry.

-We're trapped inside, Kehaar! How do we get out?

The fact was, Kehaar did not know how to help them escape. He had never been faced with such a problem before. He had seen the human close the door and lock it, so he would have to find another exit. He wondered whether he really wanted to help or just go back to the Big Water. His friendship with the rabbits won out, and he started to search for another way out. He soon found the hatch on the roof, and it had not been screwed on properly.

-I see da way! 'ere! Just poosh eet.

Hazel soon located the hatch, and started to push. He got Bigwig and Hyzenthlay to help him, and they finally managed to push the lid out of its socket and off the train.

-It's really great to breathe fresh air again, said Hazel. It was getting really stuffy down there. Thank you Kehaar.

-Ees noddings, meester 'azel. Vat you do now?

-Well, Kehaar, do you know where we are? What is this place?

-You not know, meester Hazel? Ees prary.

-We can't really get off this hrududu now, can we?

-Ees gonna stop soon. Maybe den, you go off. But ees many many hoomeens.

Hazel went back inside the wagon and was faced with questions from Bigwig.

-What did you find out?

-Nothing good. While we can get out of here, we still can't get off the hrududu, it is travelling too fast. Kehaar says that it is going to stop soon, but we will have to deal with humans, and lots of them.

-Why did we ever listen to that gull and get on this hrududu?

-At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

-Turns out it wasn't. I don't want to fight humans if I can avoid it, but if I have no choice, I'll give them something to remember me by.

The train kept travelling for the entire night. However, it was mostly comfortable for the rabbits, with fresh air coming inside the wagon through the open hatch.

As the train stopped in Winnipeg early the next morning, the rabbits were woken up by Kehaar, who was screaming loudly and attracting the attention of most of the humans around in the process.

-MEESTER 'AZEL! MEESTER PIGVIG! Ve stop!

-What's the matter with him? said Spartina. Is he always loud like that?

-No, only when it's especially important to remain quiet, answered Blackberry sarcastically.

-I guess we really should check out this place, mumbled Bigwig, but it probably won't do us much good, with all his noise and all these humans.

Hazel and Bigwig slowly raised their heads out of the wagon to scan the area, and realized that all the humans were staring at the wagon.

-I don't think now is the best time to leave this hrududu, Kehaar, decided Hazel.

-Ees alright. Ya can goo off anudder tim, at anudder stop, ya?

The two rabbits went back inside the wagon and were knocked off their paws by a sudden jolt.

-No progress? asked Pipkin.

-No progress, Hlao-roo, confirmed Hazel. But what was that?

-Dem hoomeens, dey take off part of ze hrududu, explained Kehaar.

-How is that possible?

-I dunno. Can't explen. Moost see.

Employees were removing a few wagons from the train and adding several others. Several minutes later, the train departed again, with the rabbits still inside the apple wagon.

The train kept travelling for the rest of the day. It stopped briefly in the middle of the night, but once again, there were too many humans for the rabbits to be able to leave. Early the next morning, as it was nearing its final destination of Halifax, the engineer suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. While he had been diagnosed with a heart disease a few weeks before, he did not expect such a sudden attack. He tried desperately to avoid falling down, holding onto a switch, but it was no use. He soon collapsed on the ground, pulling the switch in the process, causing the train to accelerate.

Meanwhile in the last wagon of the train, the one that contained the apples, the rabbits were woken up in a very unpleasant way by the sudden increase in speed. Kehaar was almost knocked off the train, but instead fell inside the wagon.

-Get off of me, you embleer bird! shouted Bigwig. What's wrong with you, jumping on us while we sleep?

-So sorry, meester Pigvig. But stoopid hrududu, it knock me down! I go see vat happen.

With a raucous cry, he flew out of the wagon towards the locomotive. As he landed inside, he saw the engineer on the floor, his hand still on the switch. He poked the human a few times, but there was no reaction. With that, he flew back to the apple wagon, where he told the rabbits what he had seen, in a very confusing manner.

-But in that case, who is controlling the hrududu? enquired Spartina when he had finished.

-Ah...no von.

-No one? Frith and Inlé, at the speed this thing is going, it will fall off the iron road!

-Is that a bad thing? asked Hazel.

-Absolutely. If that happens, we will all stop running. The only way to avoid this disaster is to stop the hrududu. Let's go.

-Hold on. You're suggesting that we stop the hrududu? repeated Blackberry in disbelief.

-Can you think of a better option?

-That we jump off and run as fast as we can.

-The hrududu is going too fast, we would probably get hurt if we tried to jump off. We're wasting time, follow me.

With that, Spartina jumped out of the wagon and onto the roof. She was followed soon afterwards by the others. As she neared the edge of the wagon, she jumped onto the next one. Hazel and Hyzenthlay followed. Blackberry came next, but he didn't jump as far as necessary and ended up hanging from the edge. The two chiefs had to pull him to safety.

Meanwhile in the locomotive, the engineer, barely conscious, was trying to get back up. He put his hand on another switch for support, but instead fell back down, pulling it in the process. Unfortunately for the rabbits, this switch was used to detach the last wagon on the train.

The mechanism was rusty and not functioning very well. It took several seconds before the wagons detached. A large bolt flew off the mechanism and hit Blackberry between the eyes. The vibrations that followed sent Hazel slipping off the wagon, hanging precariously from the edge. Hyzenthlay was knocked off her paws and nearly pushed Spartina over the edge of the wagon in the process.

Hazel was clawing desperately the side of the wagon with his back legs, trying to get back up on the roof, but he was gradually losing his grip. Suddenly, he felt something touch one of his front paws: Hyzenthlay had grabbed it to prevent him from falling. However, as he felt her claws into his fur, he panicked and let go of the roof with his other paw. He soon found himself slowly falling and dragging Hyzenthlay along with him. A few seconds later, Spartina grabbed the other paw. Both does pulled as hard as they could, and eventually succeeded in bringing him back on the roof. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, then noticed Blackberry further away, his front paws covering his head.

-What happened to you?

-Something just hit me on the head. It hurts so much.

-Let me see.

Hazel tried to examine Blackberry, but could not get him to remove his paws long enough to see anything.

-Does anyone here know what could be done for him?

-I tak a look, volunteered Kehaar.

The seagull approached Blackberry and managed to squeeze his beak through a small gap between his paws. He continued to examine him for a few seconds, before announcing his conclusion:

-He'll bee alright. Joost let heem rest for awhil. I dunno vy de humoon tak off part of ze hrududu ven its movin.

-I'm not sure I understand...hesitated Hazel.

-Look.

At this, Hazel looked behind him an saw the apple wagon some distance away, with Bigwig and Pipkin on the roof.

-We've got to rescue them, he decided.

-I don't think that would be a good idea, said Spartina. The human can't stop this hrududu, so we have to do it ourselves. Otherwise, it will fall off the iron road and we will probably all stop running.

-Why do ya not git da humoons to stop eet? Call dem on wringin pox.

-What's a...ringing box? questioned Hazel.

At this, Kehaar flew all the way to the locomotive and when he came back, he was holding a dark green thing in his beak, which he dropped on the roof. It was the emergency telephone, but unbeknownst to him, he had ripped off the wire, rendering it unusable.

-Ya, wringin pox!

-It's not ringing. What do we have to do with it?

-Ya talk. Dats all.

Hazel slowly approached the telephone before starting to speak:

-Hello, whoever you are. We are currently on a hrududu, somewhere, and we would need your help to stop it. If you could hurry, it would be greatly appreciated.

-NO NO NO! screamed Kehaar as he pushed Hazel off the telephone. You got eet all wrong. You must do eet like dis: YARK YARK YARK YARK YARK! Try again.

-You seem to know more about wringing boxes than I do. Why don't you tell the humans to stop the hrududu?

-Have you two finished arguing? complained Spartina. Watch out for that bridge over there, it seems low.

Hazel looked ahead. In the distance he could vaguely see a small overpass.

-This looks a lot like the thing we crossed when we escaped from Efrafa. The one that killed Thrayonlosa, recalled Hyzenthlay sadly.

At this, Hazel realized with horror that the overpass too low for them to be able to pass underneath without colliding with it. They would have to find a lower place where they would be safe.

Spartina jumped off the wagon, catching the ladder leading to the roof of the next one. Hazel guided Blackberry to the edge, but soon realized that his friend would be unable to jump in his current state. He tried desperately to think of a solution to this problem, but was unable to come up with anything.

As the overpass became dangerously near, Hyzenthlay had no choice but to act. She pushed her mate over the edge of the wagon, and he squealed with fear as he fell. Just as she was about to push Blackberry, however, she felt a sharp pain on her back as she was struck by the overpass and propelled off the wagon. Blackberry, who by that point was standing on his hind legs, caught an electrical wire hanging off the edge of the overpass, only for it to break a few seconds later.


	31. The Last Stop

 

My father used to say that it's never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, 'You never know what you can accomplish until you try.'   
\--Michael Jordan

* * *

As the wagon detached, Pipkin, who was just climbing out of the hole, fell back harmlessly on the apples. He was determined not to let his small size prevent him from helping the others, so tried again to jump onto the roof and succeeded.

Only then did he see Bigwig staring with shock at the rest of the train, slowly becoming farther away from them.

-What happened? he asked.

-I really don't know. I wish I did.

Both rabbits remained there, trying to think of a way to bring both parts of the hrududu closer together. They kept repeating Spartina's nonsensical stories about the machines in Darkhaven in their minds, trying to find some clues as to what they could do. As the overpass got nearer, Bigwig warned:

-I don't think there is enough space for us to fit under that bridge. I suggest that we go back inside the hrududu.

With that, both rabbits jumped back inside. Suddenly, something else fell inside. It was Blackberry, still holding onto the broken electrical wire.

-That's a nasty wound you've got on your head, there, Blackberry, noticed Bigwig. What happened to you?

-I really don't know. Something hit me, I guess. It hurt a lot, but it doesn't much anymore.

-Blackberry, how do you stop a hrududu? asked Pipkin.

-You're asking me? Spartina seems to be the hrududu expert around here.

-But you're the most intelligent rabbit on Watership Down. Don't you have any idea what we can do?

-We seem to be slowing down, so she probably succeeded without our help. Let's wait for the hrududu to stop entirely and then we will be able jump off.

-Perhaps he's right, said Bigwig.

Suddenly, the wagon started to accelerate. Alarmed, Pipkin jumped out again and saw what was happening: the wagon was going down a steep slope. Even after it had reached the end of the slope, it showed no sign of stopping. Pipkin realized that he would have to stop it himself, otherwise it might fall off the iron road as Spartina had predicted, with disastrous consequences. He scanned the area around him, desperately looking for any way to stop the hrududu. There had to be something. After all he and the others had been through, there was no way that they would be killed by a hrududu.

* * *

Hazel had landed on a small platform between the wagons. His injured hind leg caused him some pain, but other than that he was unharmed. He got back up after a few seconds and said:

-What am I doing here? I don't remember jumping.

-That's because your mate pushed you, explained Spartina, who had climbed onto the next wagon as soon as the overpass was behind them.

-It was Hyzenthlay? Frith and Inlé, what happened to her?

-That, I have no idea. I don't see her anywhere.

-Stop stating the obvious, I can see that by myself!

Hazel was profoundly annoyed at Spartina. He did not know what had happened to his mate or even if she was still alive, so he took out his frustration on the only other nearby rabbit. His number one priority at the moment was finding Hyzenthlay, Spartina could stop the hrududu without his help.

He slowly climbed back to the wagon's roof and made his way to the other end of it. The train was going downhill and the wind was blowing in his face, making it extremely hard for him to avoid falling off. As he reached the other end of the wagon, he looked around, but there were no signs of his mate apart from a few claw marks across the roof.

-Hyzenthlay? he called out desperately.

-I'm down here, came a faint voice from below.

Hazel looked down and saw her lying on what was left of the mechanism linking the wagons together. Had she fallen just a few centimetres to the right, she would have been impaled by a large bolt. She was alive and conscious, but definitely weak. Hazel tried to climb down the wagon, but instead ended up falling most of the way and landing next to her.

-Are you all right, Hazel? I didn't push you too hard, did I?

-I should be the one asking you if you're all right. You are the one who was hit by the bridge.

-Mostly. My back hurts a little, but I will probably be fine.

-You risked your life to save me just now.

-And you risked yours to get me out of Efrafa.

They touched their noses together lovingly. This peaceful moment was interrupted by Spartina jumping between them.

-Get ready to jump!

-Jump? Why? said Hazel, perplexed.

-I licked the human's face for a few minutes until he regained consciousness, then he got up and managed to stop the hrududu before falling down again.

-The hrududu is still moving.

-You don't seriously expect it to stop instantly, do you? It's slowing down, but we're wasting time, we must jump!

With that, she pushed them both off of the small platform where they were, before jumping off herself.

* * *

Pipkin remained on the roof of the wagon, slowly approaching the edge. There was clearly nothing he could use to stop the hrududu on the roof, so he would have to check the sides. Suddenly, he saw that the rest of the train had stopped moving, and that his wagon was rapidly getting closer. He hurriedly jumped back inside and shouted:

-Be prepared for something terrible!

-What are you talking about? asked Bigwig.

-Spartina was right. The hrududu really will fall off the iron road!

All three rabbits huddled closely together. Soon afterwards, there was a loud noise and strong vibrations as the wagon crashed into the rest of the train.


	32. Patience

 

Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.

\--Joyce Meyer

* * *

-You're back!

Fiver and Vilthuril were sleeping peacefully in the Honeycomb when they were suddenly woken up by something jumping on their backs. They turned and found themselves buried under their four kittens.

-Where have you been all this time? asked Threar. We missed you!

-We have been in places so strange we can't even begin to describe them, answered Vilthuril.

-That sounds exciting! Can you take us there?

-I...don't think that would a very good idea, explained Fiver. Some of these places are very dangerous.

-It doesn't matter, all that's important is that you're back!

Fiver and Vilthuril looked at each other adoringly. They were together in the wonderful warren at Watership Down, surrounded by their kittens. It was great to be back.

* * *

-Seriously, if Hazel is not back by the next time we have to go dig, I'm going to go look for him. He would probably still make me dig, but at least he would be polite about it...

Early in the morning, Thethuthinnang had decided to stop the digging. Everyone was visibly tired and she thought it would be better to resume digging a few days later after everyone got some rest. Hawkbit spent the entire trip back to the Down complaining about having been forced to do what he considered “does' work”.

When they reached the bottom of the Down, there seemed to be a lot of activity at the top.

-I haven't seen them so excited since Hazel left, pointed out Thethuthinnang.

The rabbits climbed the Down rather rapidly, eager to see what was happening. They found Fiver and Vilthuril playing tail tag with their kittens.

-Oh Fiver, it's so great to see you! exclaimed Hawkbit as soon as he saw him. I hope Hazel and the others are here too?

-Not yet, but they will come back soon. Just a few more days.

-It's nice to see you both made it back all right, said Thethuthinnang. Where have you been all this time?

-It's a long story.

-Hey, who's that weird rabbit? asked Hawkbit, seeing Buttercup lying in the grass further away.

-We found her during our trip she came back with us, answered Vilthuril. Her name is Buttercup. I'm sure you will all like her, but she comes from a land far away and may take a little getting used to.

-Fiver, would you like to be Chief Rabbit and call off the digging? implored Hawkbit.

-No.

-It would only be for a few days, until Hazel comes back. Please?

-No. However, there's something I could do. Buttercup did have a high rank at her old warren. Maybe she could be Chief Rabbit for a few days.

-She's a doe. She'll make me dig just like Thethuthinnang did. Anyone would be a better Chief, even Bluebell.

-What must be done must be done. If you stopped complaining and did your job, it wouldn't be as painful as you say it is. But if Bluebell is interested in being Chief Rabbit, I don't see why not.

Everyone slowly went underground. Buttercup, Fiver and Vilthuril heard about the various events that had happened over the previous weeks, and then they told everyone their adventures.

-By the way, Thethuthinnang, said Fiver after a while, I have something to tell you privately. It's about Bigwig.

-He isn't hurt, is he?

-No, it's not that. I saw something in a vision. It's...


	33. The Helicopter

 

Looking around, I see people struggling. I see people in pain. And it hurts, it hurts me to see all that. We all have problems. But what will I do? Sit around, mope, and watch the world fall apart around me? Nah, that's not my style. I'm better than that.

\--Bright Side, _[Scattered Thoughts](http://s4.zetaboards.com/Fivers_Honeycomb/blog/entry/4117508/162408/)_

* * *

-Is everyone all right? inquired Pipkin as soon as he emerged from the pile of apples.

-Mostly, answered Bigwig, at the other end of the wagon.

-I never want to ride in another hrududu for the rest of my life, complained Blackberry.

-Now that we're stopped, we better go and see how the others are doing, decided Bigwig. Hopefully they are all right.

The three rabbits slowly got out of the wagon. Luckily, the train had not derailed and the wagon was still upright. It had stopped in the middle of a large field of corn. They jumped into the field and went to search for the others.

It did not take them long to find them. Hazel and Hyzenthlay had several cuts across their body and were slowly getting up. Spartina was sitting nearby, trying to remove a twig that had gotten stuck in her feather.

-Embleer hrududil! she complained. Nasty creatures, aren't they?

-That's quite an understatement, added Blackberry.

-What just happened? wondered Hazel.

-I pushed you off the hrududu, reminded Spartina.

-I thought it was Hyzenthlay.

-She pushed you once, and I did it again afterwards. It's a long story, do want me to tell you the whole thing?

-Not really...is everyone all right?

-Everyone's here, and nobody seems to have suffered any injuries, said Bigwig. So where do we go now?

-Wait. What's that noise? asked Hyzenthlay. It sounds like the loudest bumblebee I ever heard.

All rabbits raised their ears to try to pinpoint the origin of the noise.

-It's that thing in the sky, noticed Pipkin.

-Frith and Inlé, that is the largest bumblebee I have ever seen! exclaimed Bigwig, half-tharn. Nobody move, and hopefully it will ignore us!

What the rabbits thought was a bumblebee was actually a police helicopter, sent to investigate the cause of the accident and transport any victims to safety. It soon landed in the field close to the train and several police officers got off and went to the locomotive.

Kehaar cautiously approached the helicopter.

-Be careful! warned Hazel. You don't want to get stung by that thing.

Ignoring Hazel, Kehaar kept getting closer to the helicopter, and once he was standing next to it, he poked it a few times with his beak. It did not move.

-Ees not boomblebee! Ees hooleecptre! Ees flyin hrududu!

-A hrududu? repeated Bigwig in disbelief. But that's impossible. Hrududil can't fly.

-There is much more to hrududil than you could ever imagine, said Spartina mysteriously.

-It may have been flying, but it's still a hrududu, reminded Blackberry. Let's get out of here. Which way should we go?

The rabbits looked around them. For as far as they could see in all directions, there was nothing but tall plants.

-Towards the flying hrududu, announced Hyzenthlay suddenly.

-I am not taking another hrududu, declared Blackberry.

-There is no other way out of this field. I don't think any of you managed to see its size while you were on the hrududu, but I did. It keeps going forever, we would never be able to make it out. Also, we can't see very far in front of us, we don't know what could be hiding in these plants. Therefore, I think taking a hrududu would be the only way we could leave.

-Ya, ya, ees tru, confirmed Kehaar. Dis place is plenty peeg!

-That makes sense, agreed Hazel. Does anyone have anything else to suggest?

Everyone was silent at this, except Blackberry:

-I already told you: this hrududu that nearly fell of the iron road is the last one I'm taking.

-Apparently it's not, said Bigwig menacingly. Unless you can think of an alternative, you are going to obey your chiefs. Am I making myself clear?

-Perfectly clear...

All six rabbits slowly made their way towards the helicopter, and jumped inside. Almost immediately afterwards, the two police officers came back, carrying the engineer on a stretcher. They soon secured it inside the helicopter and took off.

-What's the matter, Hlao-roo? asked Hazel, seeing him look slightly depressed.

-I smelled that human over there. He's ill.

-It's a human! Humans are elil! shouted Bigwig, infuriated. Why do you care?

-Maybe because this human saved all our lives today? explained Spartina. He's the one who stopped the hrududu, after all. Why are you always so harsh?

-Not all humans are evil, Bigwig, insisted Pipkin. I'm going to see if there is anything I can do for him. In his current state, he couldn't hurt me even if he wanted to.

-And just what do you expect to do?

-I'm going to send positive waves to help him get better.

-Positive waves? What are you talking about?

-Threar has been telling me about this a while ago when we were still at the Down. I'm going to try it out.

With that, he lied down next to the stretcher and remained motionless, although he seemed to be concentrating. Hyzenthlay whispered in Bigwig's ear:

-You know how Threar inherited Fiver's powers? It's one of those things. Unfortunately, Pipkin doesn't have any such powers, so he's wasting his time.

-I'm going to tell him.

-That would only depress him, he's feeling good over what he's doing right now. And don't worry about the human, I'll try to send those waves.

Bigwig stared at the two rabbits lying next to each other trying to help the human. He pulled Hazel aside.

-I just can't take it anymore. I know I did something very bad when I asked Spartina to be my mate, but since then I've been trying to set things right. Every attempt I made failed, and I'm probably making things worse. Just what should I do? What did you do talk about when you first met Hyzenthlay?

-We didn't really talk much. She was very excited to finally experience freedom.

-What should I talk to Spartina about, without making things worse?

-I really don't know. I...

-Maybe I should ask about her feather?

-Aren't you afraid that...

-Thank you Hazel, you've been very helpful.

-But I didn't say anything!

“Bigwig can be really strange, sometimes”, he thought.

Bigwig slowly approached Spartina, trying his best to remain unnoticed. Unfortunately for him, she soon realized what he was doing.

-What do you want?

-About...your ear...

-What's the matter with my ear?

-The feather...

A look of panic appeared on Spartina's face. She put one of her front paws in the ear where the feather was, to verify that it was still there.

-Oh thank Frith it hasn't fallen off. It would be really annoying to lose it after so long.

-But...why is it there?

-It was put there when I was a kitten for an owsla training exercise back in Darkhaven. I had to run a long distance without it falling off.

-I suppose it didn't...

-Of course it didn't. As you can see, it's still there.

-But...what holds it there?

-There is a small hole at the base of my ear, where the feather is inserted.

-That must hurt.

-Not really. I was a kitten and my ear wasn't fully formed when this was done. My ear grew around the feather, so it is still there and it doesn't hurt.

At this, Bigwig fell silent. He had asked about the feather and received an answer. However, there was nothing more to say about it, and he did not know what to say now. He remained there, motionless, trying desperately to find a way to continue the conversation, but was unable to think of anything.

The helicopter, by this point, had landed at the the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. An ambulance was waiting on the helipad to carry the engineer to the nearest hospital. As soon as it had landed, the stretcher was carried inside and the vehicle rushed away from the scene.

The rabbits startled at the loud noise of the ambulance's siren, and bolted in random directions. After the hrududu had vanished, Hazel went to search for the others. He found Hyzenthlay, Bigwig, Pipkin and Spartina rather easily, but it took them a long time to find Blackberry. They only succeeded in locating him after Kehaar arrived and helped them; he was hiding in a drain pipe near the helipad. Unfortunately, as a result, he was covered in mud.

-I've had enough! he complained as he started to clean himself. Nothing good happened to us since we left the Down. Every single time we got close to humans, one of us ended up getting hurt in one way in another. And you, Hyzenthlay, why did you have to have to rescue that stupid rabbit with a feather who only caused Bigwig all these problems? We were supposed to find Fiver and Vilthuril, and at one point we were very close to finding them, but Kehaar showed up and ruined everything. That was hrair days ago, they are surely dead by now.

All the other rabbits listened to Blackberry's rant without reacting. The only one who spoke was Kehaar:

-O, meester Plackperry ees veree veree mad! Anyvay, dis ees vere I leave you. I go pack to peeg vater. Vere you go now, meester 'azel?

Hazel showed no sign of having heard the seagull. It was Hyzenthlay who spoke:

-We're going to go inside a flying hrududu. I feel it's the only way we can get out of this place. Before you leave, could you distract the humans while we go inside.

-Ya!

-Hazel, Hyzenthlay says we're taking another hrududu. Please convince her not to make us do this! implored Blackberry.

-Right...take a hrududu...which way...Hazel struggled to say, having not really paid attention to what Blackberry had told him.

Hyzenthlay led the other five rabbits to the other end of the helipad, across a small field, through a tunnel she dug under a fence, until they finally came upon the runway where the airplane she had seen in her vision was awaiting takeoff. Kehaar had no trouble distracting the sole guard while the rabbits climbed the stairs. As they reached the top, Bigwig stopped.

-We're very grateful for everything you did to help us during our journey, Kehaar.

-Ees noddings, meester Pigvig. Now I go pack to peeg vater!

With a lengthy cry, he flew away before Bigwig could reply. All six rabbits went to hide under the first seat they could find.

-It's crowded here, Hazel, don't you think we should look for another place to hide? suggested Bigwig. Hazel?

Hazel was sitting in a corner, staring blankly in front of him. Pipkin approached him.

-What's the matter, Hazel-rah?

-Blackberry is right. Fiver has stopped running.

-Get that silly idea out of your head. Fiver can't stop running just like that. His visions would warn him of any danger. We have no proof that he stopped running.

-You can't really believe this yourself. You should know better. All this time since he vanished from the warren, he couldn't possibly survive that.

-You must not lose hope. That is what has kept us going ever since we left Sandleford Warren.

-I don't think they stopped running, interjected Hyzenthlay. I can feel it.

-It's no use, replied Hazel. They are both in Inlé. We might as well face it now. We can't keep going on false hopes and feelings.

-Blackberry, said Bigwig, I have to talk to you. Alone.

Blackberry's ears dropped to the sides of his head as he realized what that meant. He was the one who had depressed Hazel with his rant, and now he had to suffer the consequences. Nevertheless, dealing with an angry Bigwig was something all rabbits tried to avoid whenever they could.


	34. Saving Hazel-rah

 

if the friend just disappears - he'll be bewildered, anxious, heartbroken, and perhaps angry. He may sink into a deep depression, sometime refusing to eat or drink.

\--Marie Mead, _Rabbits: Gentle Hearts, Valiant Spirits_

* * *

The rabbits remained hidden under the seats for the entire trip. Bigwig screamed at Blackberry for a while, before lying down, suffering from airsickness. Hazel was at the other end of the hiding spot, thinking about how the whole rescue mission had been a complete failure, with Hyzenthlay and Pipkin trying in vain to comfort him. Blackberry remained apart, thinking about the mess he had made.

The flight lasted a few hours, before the airplane finally landed in London.

-It feels great when the hrududu isn't moving, don't you think? Bigwig sighed in relief.

-Does it matter? asked Hazel. We have nowhere to go.

-We can go back to Watership Down, where Fiver awaits, suggested Hyzenthlay.

-Fiver stopped running. The only place where he can be now is Inlé. I'm going to join him.

-Hazel! Where did you get such an idea? You can't just give up. You have no proof that Fiver stopped running. Besides, I feel that he and Vilthuril are safe at the warren.

-It's just a feeling. It's probably wrong. You're Chief Rabbit too, so the warren would be fine without me.

As Hazel was about to walk out of the hiding spot, Bigwig held him back.

-How dare you walk out on us like that? I order you to stay with us and remain Chief Rabbit.

-I know why you are doing this, admitted Blackberry, and it's my fault. I'm sorry.

-You don't need to apologize for the truth, said Hazel. What is, is what must be. I wish you luck, but without Fiver to warn you against danger, I can't expect that much.

-Hazel, warned Bigwig, I'm going to knock some sense through that thick skull of yours.

As he said that, Bigwig cuffed Hazel in the face. This did not bring him to his senses, instead he fell down, unconscious. The other five rabbits remained motionless, staring at him.

-What have I done...

-Everybody stay calm, urged Spartina. Does anyone know what can be done to help him?

-We must get him to a place where he can rest, explained Blackberry. We must leave this place. Bigwig, you're the strongest, you carry him.

Hazel's body was placed on Bigwig's back, with Hyzenthlay and Spartina supporting his head and his hind legs. They left their hiding spot and went towards the exit, although progress was slow due to the large number of humans also leaving the airplane. When they finally reached the top of the stairs leading to the ground, Bigwig stopped.

-I hope there is another way out? I might drop him if I go down this.

-We don't have time to search for another one, said Hyzenthlay, get going!

The rabbits slowly went down the stairs, doing their best to avoid being stepped on. Just a few steps from the bottom, Hazel fell on Bigwig's head, causing him to lose his balance and tumble down the rest of the way, carrying Hyzenthlay and Spartina with him. The others rushed down to see if they were all right.

-None of us seem to be seriously hurt, assured Spartina. The one who worries me is Hazel. He should be conscious by now.

-Then let's get out of here! decided Blackberry. Here, let's take this hrududu over there, it will go faster.

-Blackberry, didn't you say that you were not going inside another hrududu for the rest of your life? reminded Bigwig.

-I did say that, but hrududil move faster than we can run, and we need to get Hazel to a safe place as soon as possible.

The hrududu Blackberry was referring to was on the other side of the fence that the self-driving bus had destroyed a few days before. It had still not been repaired, and the road on the other side was closed.

The hrududu was the truck owned by Mr Cane, the farmer who lived at Nuthanger Farm. He had gotten out of the vehicle to argue with a police officer who refused to let him get past.

The rabbits hurriedly carried Hazel inside the hrududu through its open door, and hid under the seat.

-Any improvement? asked Bigwig.

-None, answered Hyzenthlay. This is really worrying.

-Why are hrududil so slow when speed is especially important? complained Blackberry.

Only then did the farmer get back inside the truck. He had finally realized that simply taking the detour would take less time than continuing to argue with the officer.

-This is all my fault, said Blackberry sadly. I shouldn't have talked about Fiver like that.

-Oh no, Blackberry, it's my fault, interjected Bigwig. I'm the one who hit him.

-You hit him because he was talking about Fiver because I brought it up.

-It's because I have a nasty temper!

-Stop arguing over whose fault it is! ordered Pipkin. It will not make him better.

The rabbits spent the rest of the trip looking after Hazel. Despite their best efforts, he remained unconscious.

A few hours later, Mr Cane heard a loud noise coming from the engine. He did not react to it, as he had frequently been hearing such noises for a few months. However, when he tried to turn onto the small road leading to the farm, nothing happened. He soon realized, much to his horror, that the truck was completely unresponsive. Even the brakes didn't work. The truck kept moving straight ahead, and soon rolled off the road and into the field. He knew it was only a matter of time before he got involved in an accident. As fast as he could, he opened the door and jumped out. He saw the truck crash into a pylon further away, and slowly lean, until it fell on its side.

“At least this happened near the farm” he thought, “so I won't have to walk very far. I just hope the insurance company will pay...”

Meanwhile inside the hrududu, the rabbits placed themselves around Hazel in an attempt to shield him from the vibrations caused by the many bumps in the field. This was mostly successful, until the hrududu fell on its side. They tumbled and fell onto one of the doors, with Hazel on top of them, still unconscious.

-What in Frith's name...muttered Bigwig.

-I lost count of the number of times we were nearly killed by a hrududu, said Hyzenthlay. We should get out of here.

-But to leave, explained Spartina, there has to be a way out of this hrududu.

The door the rabbits were sitting on was closed and locked. The other one, while open, was over them, and it was too far away for them to be able to jump or climb to it.

-If there isn't any way out, we'll have to dig one, decided Blackberry.

-I don't think this substance is diggable, pointed out Bigwig.

-We can at least try, suggested Pipkin.

With that, all the rabbits except Hazel started to scratch the door. Unfortunately, when the truck had fallen on its side, a rock had made a hole in the gasoline tank, and the engine caught fire soon afterwards.

As soon as they saw the flames, the rabbits went tharn. The fire was spreading rapidly, and the smoke would soon cause the air to become unbreathable. Worst of all, it was becoming obvious that it was impossible to dig through the door; they were completely trapped.

-What a ridiculous way to stop running! said Bigwig. After all we've been through, we get killed by a burning hrududu.

-Do not lose hope! shouted Hyzenthlay. This can't possibly be happening. There is a way out of here, we just have to find it.

She smelled intensely, and after several minutes, she finally discovered that, when the hrududu had fallen on its side, the window had broken, and the hole was just large enough for them to go through. Pipkin, Blackberry and Spartina were the first to go out.

Then came the hard task of navigating Hazel through the hole. The others had to twist their bodies to fit through the hole, but Hazel was unable to do so. Bigwig and Hyzenthlay tried to push him, with the others pulling, but they were rapidly losing their strength, as the smoke kept spreading and prevented them from breathing properly. After what felt like forever, they had finally pushed him out, and were able to escape themselves.

The rabbits ran a certain distance, before Bigwig collapsed, unable to carry Hazel anymore.

-That was a close call. I was really afraid we wouldn't make it out of this embleer hrududu. Where are we now? This place looks rather familiar doesn't it?

The others looked around them, and suddenly realized that they were at the bottom of the Down. In their panic, they had not paid attention to their surroundings before.

-We're...back? Blackberry hesitated to say.

-Perhaps the best place where we could be, with Hazel in this state, said Pipkin. Let's get him to the top.

Carrying Hazel upwards was an extreme challenge, almost as hard as carrying him down the stairs. Bluebell, who was at silflay, saw them from a distance, and went underground to tell the others.

-They're back. But there is something wrong. You won't believe it until you see it yourselves.

Nearly all the rabbits in the Honeycomb went outside to see what he was talking about. As they saw the group, they were filled both with excitement and horror. While Hazel and the others had successfully made it back to the warren, the Chief Rabbit was clearly in terrible shape. Several rabbits approached the group and started to smell them, to prove to themselves that this really happening.

-Everyone stay back! ordered Bigwig. Hazel may stop running, we didn't find Fiver and Vilthuril and we brought another rabbit with us. Stay back!

He carried Hazel all the way to the Honeycomb, where he dropped him in the middle of the burrow, still unconscious. Seeing the Chief Rabbit in such a state caused many rabbits to go tharn. Bluebell was the only one who managed to keep his composure.

-What happened?

-It's all my fault, began Bigwig. He learned that Fiver stopped running and...

-Fiver hasn't stopped running, he's right here at the warren.

-If I wasn't so tired right now, I would smack your ears off for making such a rotten joke.

-But...

-SHUT UP!

-Oh hello everyone, said Fiver calmly as he arrived in the Honeycomb. What's the matter with Hazel?

Everyone stared at Fiver for a few seconds. Bigwig slowly approached him, and smelled him intensely, before concluding:

-By Frith, it IS him!

As he heard this, Blackberry went completely tharn and fainted.

-Fiver! You're alive! exclaimed Pipkin as he playfully jumped on Fiver's back.

-Was there ever any doubt about that?

-So you're this Fiver they've been searching for? asked Spartina. It's nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you.

-Fiver, could you please cheer up Hazel? urged Hyzenthlay. That's perhaps the only thing that could save his life.

-I'll do what I can.


	35. Life Goes On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nyreem is yet another random doe from TFWD.

Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point. (English translation: The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.)

\--Blaise Pascal

* * *

Hazel slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but around him he could vaguely see various rabbits. The one closest to him caught his attention.

-Fiver?

-Yes, Hazel. It's me.

Hazel remained motionless for a few seconds. Then, he buried his head as deep in Fiver's fur as he could.

-Oh Fiver, I'm so sorry.

-Sorry? What for?

-I was unable to save you, and the only way I could find you was to stop running myself.

-Hazel, do you know where we are?

-Inlé, where else?

-No. We are both safe at Watership Down. Nobody stopped running.

It took Hazel several seconds to understand what Fiver had said. After he had finally processed the information and realized what it meant, he hugged Fiver closely and started to cry.

-We should leave these two alone, suggested Bigwig. Come with me. Blackberry? Are you all right?

Blackberry was further away in the Honeycomb, slowly regaining consciousness.

-Bigwig, is Fiver really here, or did I just imagine the whole thing? he struggled to say.

-He's really here. Now let's leave him alone with Hazel. Come with me.

The rabbits slowly left the Honeycomb, until the only ones left there were Fiver, Hazel and Hyzenthlay. Hazel was still hugging Fiver.

-You're never leaving again.

-I don't intend to, but would you at least let me breathe?

-Sorry.

Hazel let go of Fiver, but the two remained close to each other. He briefly took his head out of his brother's fur to tell Hyzenthlay:

-I shouldn't have doubted you when you said Fiver hadn't stopped running.

-It's all right, Hazel. Now I'll leave you two alone.

With that, she left the Honeycomb. As Chief Rabbit, she would have to catch up with all the events that had happened during her absence.

* * *

Bigwig, Hyzenthlay and Pipkin were trying to make their way through a large crowd of rabbits. Everyone was asking them questions about their journey, but they were unable to get themselves heard over the noise.

-Bigwig, said Hyzenthlay, you're better at talking to large crowds. Will you tell them to keep quiet?

-Leave it to me. OI! EVERYBODY QUIET! ONE AT A TIME!

Everyone became quiet as they heard Bigwig's shout.

-There is something I don't understand. Many of you weren't here when I left the warren with the others, a few weeks ago, noticed Hyzenthlay.

-Many rabbits joined the warren while you were gone, explained Bluebell. Here are the two leaders, Hickory and Marigold.

The two rabbits slowly approached Pipkin, Hyzenthlay and Bigwig.

-Your smell seems very familiar to me, said Pipkin. Have we met before?

-I don't know who you are, or what you are doing here, and as captain of owsla it is my business to know such things, said Bigwig. Explain yourselves.

Hickory and Marigold remained silent. They were in front of the rabbit they had left to die in the shining wire. While this had happened many seasons before, they still felt a strong sense of guilt.

-WHY DOES NOBODY ANSWER ME?

-It's a long story, Bigwig, replied Thethuthinnang. Come to my burrow and I will explain everything. You should bring the rabbit with a feather too.

A look of shock and fear appeared on Bigwig's face as he heard his mate's last remark. She had clearly found out about the mistake he had made.

-Who told you?

-Fiver.

-Oh.

Meanwhile in the Honeycomb, Fiver and Hazel were absorbed in a conversation.

-You all had a hard journey. Is everyone all right? asked Fiver.

-Several of us have been hurt along the way, but we all survived. We brought back another rabbit with us. I guess I'll have to talk to Thethuthinnang...

-You won't have to. I already did.

-How did you know?

-I had a feeling.

-What's all the noise?

-Bigwig is arguing with some new rabbits who joined the warren while you were gone.

-You should tell me about it. It sounds interesting.

-All right. It all started a few weeks ago, when Bluebell, who was Chief Rabbit, organized a patrol...

-Bluebell was Chief Rabbit?

-Pretty much everyone was Chief Rabbit at some point. Anyway, that day it was Bluebell, and he...

* * *

A while later, Bigwig, Spartina and Thethuthinnang came out of the burrow where the discussion had occurred. Bigwig had confessed to his mistake and Thethuthinnang had accepted his apology. Spartina also rather satisfied, as she got a position in the owsla. Suddenly, she bumped into Buttercup.

-I'm sorry, said Buttercup. I...

-No, it's all right, assured Spartina. I don't think I know you...

-I'm Buttercup. You are...

-I'm Spartina. It's nice to meet you, Buttercup.

The two does stared at and smelled each other for a few seconds, before walking away in separate directions. Bigwig quickly forgot about the incident, and went to see Hazel.

-I have to talk to you. Right now.

-What's the matter, Bigwig? You seem disturbed. Anything wrong with Thethuthinnang?

-No, that turned out better than I expected. It's something else. She's been telling me how the warren has been invaded by rabbits from Cowslip's warren.

-I know, Fiver just told me. It's going to be crowded, but this is only temporary, until...

-Do we drive them out or kill them?

-What are you talking about?

-Hazel, I know you're still recovering from when I hit you, but surely you understand what this means? They killed Pimpernel. They nearly killed me. Nothing good can come out of this.

-They just want to start a new life, free from the shining wire. We gave the Efrafan survivors a chance after the battle, why shouldn't we do the same thing with these rabbits?

Bigwig hesitated for a few seconds, before deciding:

-All right, I will let them alone. But I swear, if they become the least bit hostile, you can be sure I'll...

-I'm sure you will, Bigwig. You really should calm down.

* * *

The rabbits spent most of the evening listening to Hazel, Hyzenthlay, Fiver, Vilthuril and the others telling them the story of their adventures.

A while later, the subject of digging was brought up again.

-Hickory and Marigold were wondering when digging would resume, inquired Nyreem.

-Hazel-rah, please call off the digging, begged Hawkbit. I can't take it anymore.

-He really seems to hate digging, said Spartina, who was playing bobstones with Buttercup in a corner of the Honeycomb.

-Ever since I arrived at the warren, he's done nothing but complain about it, recalled Buttercup.

-Digging the new warren is very important, explained Hazel, but I don't think there will be any today. We've just come back from a difficult journey and we're all very tired, I think we should rest for a few days.

-Oh thank you so much Hazel, said Hawkbit, thank you for calling off the digging.

-I didn't call off the digging. I merely said that there wouldn't be any today. In a few days, once we've all recovered from our journey, we will all help dig the new warren.

-And that includes you, added Bluebell.

-And hopefully you won't complain too much, concluded Vilthuril.

Hawkbit stared at Hazel, then at all the others, before leaving the Honeycomb mumbling something about how he would have liked to have gone on the trip with Hazel and the others. Soon afterwards, nearly all the rabbits retreated to their burrows to sleep. Watership Down was at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!FINISHED!!
> 
> After several months of planning, 43 days of writing and around 5 months of editing and posting, it's all over.
> 
> I wish to thank Bright Side and Acacia Heartstrings of the Fiver's Honeycomb forum, who took the time to review nearly every chapter I posted and helped me improve my writing.
> 
> I also wish to thank all the other people who reviewed and/or favourited (sorted alphabetically): Fox Teen, Lauz-millz, Myrkin, Sharks Potter, Silverweed's Claws, SmileyXs Ice-cream Sprinkles, Strifer and Tay Bartlett.
> 
> I also wish to thank the following:
> 
> *Tyler Sontag, who provided me with the title.
> 
> *As well as all the people who inspired me (sorted alphabetically): Acacia Heartstrings, arnoldretsch1998, Bright Side, David “Loganberry” Buttery, CrispinVCampion, Crackers, Dark-Celeste, Darkling Nocturnal, Fox Teen, Marinell Harriman, Hereward the White, Sam Hughes, Hyzenthlay, Hyzenthlay69, Jadefrost-rah, Journalist793, kamikazitwinkie, karrenia, Keeralie Starflight, Nina Paley, Tom Patten, PcKtmouse, potophan94, Sharks Potter, Shrrgnien, Silverweed's Claws, Thethuthinnang, VideoGameMaster1478, Vilthuril, Bill Welch, and my sister.
> 
> And, of course, Richard Adams and Martin Rosen.
> 
> So it's over. I don't know what I'm going to write now. I have ideas for several other fanfics (all Watership Down related), but it will probably take a few weeks, or a few months, before I post any others.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and please review.


End file.
